Narratives of Vaccination - Media Portrayals, Disinformation, and Geopolitics in the Western Balkans

This project research, produced by Novi treći put with the support of the International Republican Institute, analyze how various COVID-19 vaccines were represented on Facebook in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the first half of 2021. The studies examined narratives surrounding Western vaccines (AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson), non-Western vaccines (Sputnik V, Sinopharm, and Sinovac), and the activities of fringe anti-vaccination media. Through sentiment and discourse analysis of thousands of posts, the research mapped public communication patterns, misinformation trends, and geopolitical framing. The findings show that Russian and Chinese vaccines were most often portrayed positively—frequently linked to pro-Russian narratives—while Western vaccines were met with skepticism and safety concerns. Fringe media amplified anti-vaccination and anti-Western messages, often inconsistently but with a clear impact on public discourse.