Vaccine Hesitancy and Religion
From The Revealer by The Center for Religion and Media at NYU
April 29, 2026 · 41 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the connections between vaccine hesitancy and religion in America.
How is vaccine hesitancy in America like a religion? Kira Ganga Kieffer, author of Unvaccinated Under God: Religion and Vaccine Hesitancy in Modern America, joins us to discuss connections between vaccine hesitancy and religion. What factors contributed to large numbers of people expressing skepticism at pharmaceutical companies and medical authorities? What led to an alliance between vaccine-hesitant Americans and religious conservatives? How have predominantly Black churches tried to promote vaccines as safe? Why did the Covid vaccine become such a prominent religious freedom issue? And, what needs to happen so that vaccine-preventable diseases are not a danger in the United States?
People in this episode
Guest: Kira Ganga Kieffer
Topics covered
- vaccine hesitancy
- religion
- public health
- skepticism
- Black churches
- religious freedom
Keywords
- vaccine hesitancy
- religion
- Covid vaccine
- Black churches
- skepticism
- religious freedom
- public health
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Unvaccinated Under God: Religion and Vaccine Hesitancy in Modern America
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