Table 6 Why Not Vaccinate Themes and Exemplars
From: Maternal perceptions of childhood vaccination: explanations of reasons for and against vaccination
Theme | Sub-theme | Number of respondents affirming sub-theme | Representative Exemplars |
|---|---|---|---|
Sources of Influences | |||
Experience | 17 | “Also family members have had severe sideaffects to immunizations” (818539) | |
“Everybody I have known has survived chicken pox w/o issues” (818086) | |||
“I have a background of Naturopath and herbs” (710232) | |||
“Know children who had terrible reactions” (812324) | |||
External Sources | 8 | “Felt pressured to do first 3 imm. But not anymore” (830369) | |
“Not sure who to believe about pros and cons of vaccination” (818004) | |||
Deliberative Processes | |||
Risk | 124 | “There are many unknown dangers of getting it” (830847) | |
“Vaccinations linked to health issues” (830753) | |||
“Do not agree with rigorous schedule at such a young age” (818688) | |||
“We are delaying until the immune system is better equipped at 7 yrs” (812405) | |||
“In our opinion they are not necessary and we do not want to expose our children to unnecessary foreign bodies” (810546) | |||
“Scared of autism gonna wait a few months” (818005) | |||
Research | 12 | “I have done my own research” (818020) | |
“Concern with affect of intramuscular aluminum toxicity not being research enough” (830800) | |||
“I feel there’s not enough research on them” (830976) | |||
Effectiveness | 3 | “I don’t believe they are healthy or effective” (830402) | |
Balancing risks and benefits | 8 | “Don’t believe they do more good than harm” (830680) | |
“Cons outweigh the pros for vaccinating” (515051) | |||
“Am leaning towards not vaccinating. I think there is more harm than proven good” (812230) | |||
Choice | 14 | “Delaying by choice” (818638) | |
“personal choice for both of us” (810555) | |||
“chose not to vaccinate” (818280) | |||
Instrumental/Practical | 17 | “My husband and I are working and not had the time yet” (812456) | |
“He was in India for a few months, their kids have a different schedule for immunizations” (810563) | |||
“Busy clinic” (730238) | |||
Health Issues | 18 | “Born with numerous health issues, did not want to add to his problems” (812580) | |
“Waiting for him to put more weight on” (810509) | |||
“Premature” (818057) | |||
“Rescheduled twice due to cough/flu” (830894) | |||