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Social Representations of Hesitant Brazilians about Vaccination against COVID-19

Background: The control of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a great challenge. Understanding the thoughts and beliefs underlying vaccine hesitancy can help in the formulation of public policies. The present study aimed to analyze the social representations of hesitant Brazilians about vaccination agai...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: dos Santos, Keila Cristina Oliveira, Junqueira-Marinho, Maria de Fátima, Reis, Adriana Teixeira, Camacho, Karla Gonçalves, Nehab, Marcio Fernandes, Abramov, Dimitri Marques, de Azevedo, Zina Maria Almeida, de Menezes, Livia Almeida, Salú, Margarida dos Santos, Figueiredo, Carlos Eduardo da Silva, Moreira, Maria Elisabeth Lopes, de Vasconcelos, Zilton Farias Meira, de Carvalho, Flavia Amendola Anisio, de Mello, Livia de Rezende, Correia, Roberta Fernandes, Gomes Junior, Saint Clair dos Santos, Moore, Daniella Campelo Batalha Cox
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10340750/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37444052
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20136204
Descripción
Sumario:Background: The control of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a great challenge. Understanding the thoughts and beliefs underlying vaccine hesitancy can help in the formulation of public policies. The present study aimed to analyze the social representations of hesitant Brazilians about vaccination against COVID-19. Methods: Qualitative research guided by the Theory of Social Representations, carried out through an online survey among Brazilian adults living in Brazil. The data were analyzed using the IRaMuTeQ software. Results: Of the 173,178 respondents, 10,928 were hesitant and declared reasons for vaccination hesitation. The analysis generated three classes: mistrust of the vaccine and underestimation of the severity of the pandemic; (dis)information and distrust of political involvement; and fear of adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines. Conclusions: Social knowledge, presented by the representations apprehended in this study, demonstrates difficulty in discerning the reliability of information and a social imagination full of doubts and uncertainties. Understanding the internal dynamics of these groups, with their representations of the world, is important to propose policies and actions that echo and cause changes in the understanding of the role of immunization. It is essential to shed light on the sociological imagination so that gaps filled with false information can be dismantled and confronted with scientific knowledge accessible to the population.