Vaccine Hesitancy and the Accumulation of Distrust

Abstract Scholarship on vaccine hesitancy portrays racially marginalized populations as undervaccinated, undereducated, or under the influence of social movements. However, these explanations cannot account for vaccine hesitancy among the Somali diaspora in Minneapolis. Drawing on interviews with Somali parents and health, education, and government professionals in Minneapolis, we argue that vaccine hesitancy among marginalized populations stems from accumulated distrust. Somalis’ distrust is relationally produced through their interactions with the healthcare system, where they experience both epistemic and corporeal harm. When health experts ignore Somalis’ history, knowledge, and embodied experiences, distrust accumulates. Our account reveals different expressions of vaccine hesitancy, thus highlighting the contingent, relational, and cumulative nature of distrust.