Lahore University of Management Sciences Immunization interactions between parents and frontline bureaucrats are shaped by the former s perceptions of the state and its representatives. Based on public beliefs and past experience, many perceive them to be untrustworthy or unreliable. Pakistan is one of two countries where wild polio is still endemic and is ranked third for un- or under-immunised children. Why is this the case, when considerable donor and government funds have been spent on Pakistan s Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI)? One factor is that, unlike antibiotics or other medication, vaccines are administered when a child is not presenting with any symptoms. Therefore, significant learning, compliance, and psychological costs are imposed as parents try to gather information and cultivate trust in governmental (EPI) provision of vaccines. The consequence can be vaccine hesitancy: suspicion or even outright fear of vaccination. Based on a year of mixed-methods rese