Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy in US and UK Frontline Workers – the Role of Economic Risk

Drawing upon a comparative qualitative study of frontline workers in the US and UK this research confirms Bazzoli and Probsts’ (2022) emphasis on employment instability as a limiting boundary condition for effective implementation of a strong safety climate. It suggests that there is no positive relationship between risk of Covid-19 infection and frontline worker attitudes toward the vaccine, because of their exposure throughout the pandemic. The notion of moral disengagement is problematic because of the tension between the vaccine hesitancy of frontline workers and the pro-social roles they fulfilled in the pandemic. Their exposure, underpinned by dependence on non-standard contracts and limited access to sick pay, informed vaccine hesitancy. Trust in management, but also perceptions of economic risk and safety in the work environment, shape vaccine behaviour and point to the importance of workplace health and safety policies. The research suggests the necessity of work-related variables in exploring vaccine hesitancy, but also the wider political economy of legal, health and welfare systems in both countries, including hostile migration environments. While vaccination was more politicised in the US, race and class were key factors in both countries because of the predominance of BME and BIPOC workers in essential work during the pandemic and disproportionate exposure to the virus.