"Jag är ingen antivaxxer men..." : En kvalitativ utredning om vaccinmotståndet i Sverige

Sammanfattning: Vaccine resistance is not a new phenomenon, skeptics have always existed since the very first vaccines became available. However, it has become clear since the Covid-19 pandemic that vaccine resistance is a widespread societal issue that is becoming increasingly widespread. Vaccine resistance is not only a threat to global health, in the light of the pandemic, the population's declining confidence in authorities has also been highlighted. This in terms of protests and criticism of the authorities, which are spread on, among other things, social media. The debate is polarized and mistrust is often directed at authorities and experts in the field, the image of Sweden as a country with high government confidence has been questioned since the corona pandemics outburst. The purpose of this investigation has therefore been to investigate how vaccine resistance in Sweden is expressed. The theoretical framework applied in the analysis of the collected material is Norman Fairclough's critical discourse analysis, Zygmunt Bauman's (2002) theory of the individualized society, Anthony Giddens' (1996; 1999) perspective on trust and risk and Paul Slovic's (2000) principle of asymmetry. The method is qualitative and the data collected consists of a discussion thread on the Flashback which is a forum freely available on the internet. The results of the investigation showed how vaccine resistance is both a matter of risk and trust. The majority of users showed skepticism towards the authorities, while others rather indicated fear and concern about potential side effects associated with vaccines. Based on the results of the investigation, it could be stated that the opposition was extensive in relation to those who described themselves as positive about vaccines. It is therefore important for authorities and other actors to meet the vaccine resistance on the internet with understanding and consideration, but also to deny incorrect information that is spread on these platforms.