Introduction

This short introductory chapter examines the book's basis and summarizes the brief history of vaccine hesitancy in one location. It defines terms like infodemic, hesitancy, and vaccine literacy and attempts to summarize the human costs and lives lost from hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hesitancy is a “real” problem, and the problem is worsening. It is examined as one variable in the metaphorical “War on Science,” its effects as a partisan issue are also summarized. The organizational logic of the book is described, and acknowledgments follow.