‘I am not an anti-vaxxer’: Women's Diverging Representations of COVID-19 Vaccination and Pregnancy

Abstract

Despite a disproportionate risk of harm from contracting COVID-19, pregnant women in Australia are reluctant to vaccinate. Drawing from social representations theory, this study investigated lay knowledge associated with women, pregnancy and COVID-19 vaccination towards the end of the pandemic. Women in regional New South Wales (N = 103; Mage = 39.76) completed an online survey comprising risk/benefit scales and a word association task. Results revealed that pregnant women and women considering pregnancy perceived ‘pregnant women’ as being at high risk from the COVID-19 virus and AstraZeneca vaccine. Regardless of pregnancy status, patterns in women's perceived risk of the virus and vaccines differed by vaccination status and reasoning. Risk and pregnancy issues frequently co-occurred in women's associations. However, the meaning of these associations varied in relation to women's vaccination experiences. Conceptualised as ‘thema’ risk/safety was central to a social representational field elaborated among women. Aspects of the representational field were elicited depending on self/other relations and diverging emancipated and polemic representations in response to institutional messaging.