The politicisation of vaccines and its influence on Brazilian caregivers’ opinions on childhood routine vaccination

Abstract

Progressive declines in vaccination coverage have been recorded in Brazil in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced even more challenges to this scenario. Considering the pandemic as an event, the scope of this article was to analyze the politicization of vaccines from the perspective of caregivers of young children. This qualitative research was conducted in two Brazilian state capitals, namely São Luís (Maranhão) and Florianópolis (Santa Catarina). The study included families with children up to 6 years of age who were fully or partially vaccinated, as well as children who had never been vaccinated. Snowball sampling was used and in-depth interviews were conducted between March 2021 and April 2022. Forty-eight caregivers, most of them mothers, were interviewed. The study revealed that, regardless of their previous stance regarding vaccines, the health-political event of the COVID-19 pandemic shook beliefs and attitudes about childhood vaccination. The results also showed that the pandemic led to delays in routine childhood immunization and caused caregivers to seek private health services. Finally, the results reveal the politicization of vaccines as a new phenomenon to be addressed in the Brazilian context.