Abstract
This chapter examines the difference in the US public’s reactions to proposals for universal administration of two adolescent immunizations: the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which provoked a firestorm of political controversy, and the Hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine, which aroused no such opposition. This chapter argues that the reason for this was that the public became familiar with the latter (but not the former) in a polluted science communication environment. It identifies decisions made by the vaccine’s manufacturer that drove the HPV vaccine off the nonpoliticized administrative- approval path followed by the HBV vaccine and every other mandated childhood vaccine and onto a highly politicized, highly partisan legislative one that predictably provoked identity- protective cognition. The chapter argues that such controversy will likely recur unless protection of the science communication environment is itself made a self- conscious object of the institutions, governmental and nongovernmental, that play a role in the dissemination of decision- relevant science.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Pages | 165-172 |
Number of pages | 8 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780190497620 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2017 |
Keywords
- HBV vaccine
- HPV vaccine
- Hepatitis B
- Human papillomavirus
- Protective cognition
- Science communication environment