The impact of Australian childhood vaccination mandates on immunization specialists and their interactions with families

Abstract

Background: Recent global outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, both before and since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, have led to the introduction or strengthening of vaccine mandate policies to target vaccine refusal. Globally, there is wide variation in how governments and jurisdictions implement and enforce mandatory vaccination as well as the financial and educational consequences to those who fail to comply. We explored the impact of mandate vaccination policies on Australian Immunization Specialists who work in Specialist Immunization Clinics (SIC) for approving vaccine exemptions outside of the mandated criteria. In particular, their interactions with patients and families..