Vaccine Policy

Political Discourse Analysis:

1. Framing of Vaccination as a Civic Duty:
   • The discourse frames vaccination not merely as a personal health choice, but as a social obligation (“act of solidarity”).
   • This reflects a broader political strategy of linking individual behavior to collective responsibility, reinforcing the idea that personal actions have public consequences.
2. Construction of Authority and Legitimacy:
   • By invoking the World Health Organization (WHO) and referring to epidemiological data, the text builds institutional authority.
   • Science and expert organizations are used politically to validate recommendations and subtly marginalize dissenting views or vaccine hesitancy.
3. Crisis Narrative and Urgency:
   • The resurgence of measles and pertussis is used to create a sense of urgency and threat, a common political technique to justify swift action or tighter public health measures.
   • References to post-COVID vulnerabilities frame a political need for renewed mobilization and vigilance.
4. Consensus Building and Identity Formation:
   • The text assumes that “large parts” of the EU/EEA populations already trust and follow national vaccination guidelines, positioning compliance as normative and desirable.
   • This works to construct a collective European identity around shared health practices, subtly othering groups or nations with lower compliance.
5. Soft Governance through Behavioral Science:
   • There is an important shift from hard governance (laws, mandates) to soft governance (influencing behaviors via social and behavioral science).
   • Tailored interventions suggest a micro-political management of populations, focusing on persuasion and cultural adaptation rather than coercion.
6. Depoliticization and Technocratic Language:
   • Although vaccination is a deeply political issue (involving rights, bodily autonomy, public funding, etc.), the language here is technocratic and neutral-sounding (“bridging epidemiology and social sciences”, “identify barriers”).
   • This technique depoliticizes the initiative, presenting it as purely scientific and rational, while in reality it promotes specific political choices (such as prioritizing vaccination over alternative forms of healthcare policy).
7. Invitation to Participate and Shared Ownership:
   • The call to “join our digital event” promotes participatory governance, inviting stakeholders into the decision-making process and creating a sense of shared ownership over public health strategies.
   • This is politically important because it pre-empts resistance by making citizens co-producers of policy.