Conclusion

This chapter summarises findings from three case studies of newspaper representations of inoculation and vaccine hesitancy/refusal in historical contexts, that of polio in the period 1955–1960, that of pertussis in the period 1974–1979 and that of Covid-19 in the period 2020–2021. The ways in which these different vaccination ‘crisis points’ were framed, this chapter argues, reflects and cements different understandings of and approaches to risk, community and marginalisation on the part of individuals and policymakers. The chapter argues that risk, far from being an abstract question of probability, is formed within communities, and creates and reinforces emergent commonalties.