A midiatização das vacinas durante a pandemia de Covid-19 nas unidades jornalísticas veiculadas no Espírito Santo

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was marked by the rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the swift development of vaccines. This period was accompanied by an infodemic of inaccurate or false information, which harmed the quality of health communication and was related to an increase in vaccine hesitancy. Given this scenario, the objective of this study was to analyze the media information about vaccines disseminated in 21 newspapers in the state of Espírito Santo during the pandemic. This is a quantitative and qualitative, exploratory documentary research, analyzing journalistic articles from 21 electronic media outlets in Espírito Santo. The analyzed period extended from December 29, 2019, to May 6, 2023, the date of the end of the pandemic. The research used Bardin's content analysis and Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as references for the qualitative article. The results of the analyses demonstrated a positive correlation between the publication of articles and the application of vaccines (rho = 0.407, p-value < 0.0005). The vaccination data revealed low adherence to the booster dose by the population, with inequality among the state's cities. The analysis of strategies to combat vaccine hesitancy was carried out in the second article; the appearance of influential figures within the journalistic writings was the most found, in addition to records with social mobilization and the use of specific social networks. The research presented the performance of the strategies in the relevant role as non human actors, influencing behaviors and perceptions about vaccination. It was concluded that the journalistic media in Espírito Santo fulfilled its role of disclosing information about vaccines, with coverage and dose application being positively correlated. However, the dissertation reveals the need for more regionalized health strategies to increase the low adherence to the booster dose, especially in rural cities. The analysis using ANT confirmed the influence of actors, especially politicians and specialists, especially in information networks, but also pointed out the need for greater diversification, including social movements and religious leaders, to reach more layers of the population, respecting the principles of the Brazilian Health System (SUS). Furthermore, the low quality and incompleteness of the data in government dashboards limited the analysis of the profile of the vaccinated population