| Abstract [eng] |
Despite the effectiveness of vaccines, in recent decades increasing numbers of parents refuse to vaccinate their children or decide to delay one or more of the recommended vaccines in the childhood immunization schedule. Decreasing numbers of vaccinated children can compromise herd immunity, which creates the conditions for the reappearance and outbreaks of vaccine preventable infectious diseases, like measles. Much scholarly work has focused on understanding vaccine hesitancy causes and most importantly, identifying practical solutions for improving public acceptance of vaccines. It is a long-standing belief that media can play a key role in shaping public attitudes toward vaccination, but researchers in Lithuania have not analyzed mass media coverage of vaccines in much detail. Aim: the goal of this dissertation is to investigate the coverage and portrayal of children’s vaccines in Lithuanian online news and to explore the potential influences on public perceptions about vaccination. Two empirical studies are conducted for this purpose: the first empirical study analyzes and provides a summative view of public attitudes about vaccines in Lithuania. Second empirical study analyzes online news media representations of vaccination in Lithuania. Methods: literature review and content analysis. Results: attitudes towards vaccines in Lithuania are unsettled and prone to temporal fluctuations. A large majority of Lithuanians agrees about the importance of vaccination, but has doubts about vaccine effectiveness and safety. In general, the primary online news outlets in Lithuania give considerable attention to vaccines, but attention to some children’s vaccines is relatively limited. Articles usually discuss the importance of vaccines; however, discussions about other relevant topics are rare. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. |
