Vaccination against covid-19 in older people: information provided by the news media

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the media content produced about vaccination against covid-19 aimed at the older population in Brazil. Method A desk research study based on the analysis of 19 articles published by the newspapers Estadão, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo and GAÚCHAZH between December 2020 and September 2021. The data were processed by the Iramuteq software, analyzed using Descending Hierarchical Classification (DHC) and interpreted by Content Analysis. Results The corpus yielded five thematic classes. These classes revealed the dissemination of information about vaccination against covid-19 for older people as a necessary measure for the health of this population, justifying the intense reporting of news on the vaccination campaign. The articles highlighted the organization of immunization policies, as well as their benefits for the older population, especially institutionalized individuals. In addition, the vaccine emerged as a key element in the fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus, increasing the protection of older residents of long-term care facilities and, undeniably, reducing the mortality of this population. Conclusion The findings highlight the importance of disseminating health promotion policies across a wide variety of communication channels, allowing access to health information by all audiences and reinforcing the urgency of collective care practices offered to older people, including those residing in institutions.