The Institutional Origins of Vaccines Distrust: Evidence from Former-Communist Countries

Abstract How is trust in vaccines affected by exposure to Soviet communism? Using individual level evidence on vaccine trust with regards to its efficiency and safety from a long list of world countries, we document that exposure to Soviet communism reduces trust in vaccination. We show that exposure to socio-political regimes can explain limited trust in vaccines, which is explained by weak trust in government, medical personnel, medical advice from doctors as well as in people from the neighbourhood. These results suggest that roots of vaccine distrust lie in a wider distrust in public and state institutions resulting from the exposure to Soviet communism.