Hope, health and cure: the meanings of the vaccine against COVID-19

Abstract The objective of this study was to identify the meanings that Brazilians attribute to the vaccines against COVID-19. A non-probabilistic sample of 1,817 Brazilians was used, each of whom answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and then the free word association technique was applied, with the inducing stimulus “vaccine for COVID-19”. This data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in the SPSS software and the textual analysis was completed using IRaMuTeQ. The results were organized into classes: (1) “Vaccine - a glimmer of hope”, portraying the expectation of healing and freedom; (2) “Vaccine - a scientific response to prevention”, showing the role of research; and (3) “Vaccine - fears and political aspects”, highlighting obstacles to vaccination. The results also demonstrated differences in responses depending on the region; adhesion to isolation; history of infection and hospitalization for COVID-19; being a frontline health professional; and being from a risk group. It is concluded that understanding the meanings of vaccination is essential for planning more effective interventions in immunization.