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Vol. 1 No. 2 (2024)

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February 18, 2026
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December 31, 2024

Copyright (c) 2024 Hani Ahmed Abdulrahman Almasabi, Ibrahim Shutaywi Mohammed Alkusaybiri, Mohammad Saad Sauod Alrasheedi, Abdulkarim Marzooq Awad Alhejaili, Saud Break Salim Alhazmi, Khalid Mohammed S. Alshwikan, Latifah Moner AL Bogami, Abduljalil Salah Alahmadi, Faisal Mohammed Mohammed Hakami, Zakaria Othman Mahdi Masmal, Dhamah Yahi Hassan Alnamy

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Beyond the Personal Choice Paradigm: A Multidisciplinary Review of Vaccine Hesitancy as a Complex Health System Phenomenon in the Post-Pandemic Era

https://doi.org/10.64483/202412653
Hani Ahmed Abdulrahman Almasabi
Al‑Khubaib Primary Health Care Center, Buraidah Central Hospital,Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia
Ibrahim Shutaywi Mohammed Alkusaybiri
Ohud Hospital,Ministry Of Health, Saudi Arabia
Mohammad Saad Sauod Alrasheedi
Madinah Health Cluster,Ministry of Health , Saudi Arabia
Abdulkarim Marzooq Awad Alhejaili
King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Medical City,Ministry of Health , Saudi Arabia
Saud Break Salim Alhazmi
King Fahad Hospital,Ministry of Health , Saudi Arabia
Khalid Mohammed S. Alshwikan
Alharam Hospital,Ministry of Health , Saudi Arabia
Latifah Moner AL Bogami
Alharam Hospital,Ministry of Health , Saudi Arabia
Abduljalil Salah Alahmadi
Medical Waste Management Department,Ministry of Health , Saudi Arabia
Faisal Mohammed Mohammed Hakami
Al-Ardah General Hospital,Ministry of Health , Saudi Arabia
Zakaria Othman Mahdi Masmal
Jazan General Hospital, Ministry Of Health, Saudi Arabia
Dhamah Yahi Hassan Alnamy
Sabya General Hospital – Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia

Corresponding Author(s) : Hani Ahmed Abdulrahman Almasabi

Halmasabi@moh.gov.sa

Saudi Journal of Medicine and Public Health, Vol. 1 No. 2 (2024)

Abstract

Background: Vaccine hesitancy was identified by the World Health Organization as one of the top ten threats to global health prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the pandemic has fundamentally transformed its landscape. Global measles-containing-vaccine coverage fell from 86% in 2019 to 81% in 2021, with unvaccinated children rising to 18 million. Despite extensive research, vaccine hesitancy persists as a wicked problem resistant to unidimensional interventions.


Aim: This narrative review aims to synthesize evidence on vaccine hesitancy through multiple disciplinary lenses—psychological, social, epidemiological, clinical, administrative, and ancillary health professions—to develop an integrated conceptual framework for understanding and addressing hesitancy as a complex health system phenomenon.


Methods: A narrative review methodology was employed, searching PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science for literature published between 2010 and 2025. 


Results: The review highlights that vaccine hesitancy operates on multiple levels, including individual psychological factors, social and structural determinants, epidemiological consequences, clinical communication dynamics, and administrative systems. It concludes that multicomponent, context-specific interventions addressing both psychological and structural barriers are more effective than singular strategies.


Conclusions: Vaccine hesitancy in the post-pandemic era cannot be adequately understood as merely individual reluctance; it is an emergent property of interactions between psychological states, social contexts, health systems, and communication environments. Effective responses require integrated multidisciplinary strategies that rebuild trust, reduce structural barriers, and engage trusted messengers across all points of the healthcare delivery continuum.

Keywords

Vaccine Hesitancy; Post-Pandemic; Health Behavior; Health Systems; Multidisciplinary
Almasabi, H. A. A., Ibrahim Shutaywi Mohammed Alkusaybiri, Mohammad Saad Sauod Alrasheedi, Abdulkarim Marzooq Awad Alhejaili, Saud Break Salim Alhazmi, Khalid Mohammed S. Alshwikan, … Dhamah Yahi Hassan Alnamy. (2024). Beyond the Personal Choice Paradigm: A Multidisciplinary Review of Vaccine Hesitancy as a Complex Health System Phenomenon in the Post-Pandemic Era. Saudi Journal of Medicine and Public Health, 1(2), 2336–2347. https://doi.org/10.64483/202412653
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