Aug 13, 2026 · 12 min
Vaccine hesitancy demands trust, not just facts
What we get wrong about vaccine hesitancy
As measles cases rise and childhood vaccine policy faces controversy, the episode examines why persuasion depends on relationships, identity, access, and trust.
- 1Vaccine hesitancy spans a spectrum shaped by trust, identity, relationships, access, and misinformation.
- 2Elisabeth Marnik’s path from a vaccine-hesitant community to immunology complicates simplistic views of scientific distrust.
- 3Empathy, storytelling, and patient relationships can make vaccine conversations more productive than fact-dumping alone.
Don't miss
Elisabeth Marnik explains how growing up vaccine-hesitant shaped her scientific path and her emphasis on empathy in vaccine conversations.
The brief
As proposed changes to the childhood vaccination schedule draw backlash amid rising measles cases, the episode asks what conventional vaccine messaging misses.
Immunologist Elisabeth Marnik describes growing up in a vaccine-hesitant, conservative evangelical community, then finding her way into science through college research.
Marnik argues that hesitancy is not a single ideology: trust, identity, relationships, access, and misinformation shape how people weigh vaccines.
Through the Evidence Collective, Marnik promotes evidence-based communication that uses storytelling and collaboration with clinicians, scientists, and parent influencers.
Her practical advice is deliberately patient: build safety and trust, recognize parents’ intentions, plant seeds, and accept that meaningful change takes time.
Featuring
Elisabeth Marnik
Donald John TrumpListen to the full episode and explore every guest, topic, and moment on PodLume.