National Institute of Women, Children and Adolescents Health Fernandes Figueira (IFF-FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro 22250-020, Brazil.
Institute of Child Care and Pediatrics Martagao Gesteira, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro 21941-912, Brazil.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jun 22;20(13):6204. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20136204.
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.
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.
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.
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.
控制 COVID-19 大流行是一项巨大的挑战。了解对接种疫苗犹豫不决的潜在想法和信念有助于制定公共政策。本研究旨在分析对 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫不决的巴西人对疫苗接种的社会代表性。
定性研究由社会代表理论指导，通过对居住在巴西的巴西成年人进行在线调查进行。使用 IRaMuTeQ 软件分析数据。
在 173178 名受访者中，有 10928 名犹豫不决，并宣布了接种疫苗犹豫不决的原因。分析产生了三个类别：对疫苗的不信任和对大流行严重程度的低估；（错误）信息和对政治参与的不信任；以及对 COVID-19 疫苗不良反应的恐惧。
通过本研究中所掌握的代表性社会知识表明，很难辨别信息的可靠性，以及充满疑虑和不确定性的社会想象力。了解这些群体的内部动态及其对世界的代表性，对于提出政策和行动以呼应并引起人们对免疫作用的理解的变化是很重要的。必须阐明社会学想象力，以便能够拆除充斥着虚假信息的空白，并与公众可获得的科学知识相对抗。
