Population's perception about vaccines from gene engineering techniques and against COVID-19

ABSTRACT

The objective of this work was to obtain the perception of the population about (1) the importance of immunization;(2) knowledge of methodologies (genetic manipulation) used for vaccine production;(3) acceptance of the vaccine against COVID-19. To this end, an online questionnaire produced via Google Forms was made available. This form was disseminated in various virtual environments such as academic and social media. Over six months, 353 responses were obtained. In this survey, responses were obtained from participants residing in 14 states in Brazil. Considering the investigation about vaccines, the results showed that most (90.6%) have already been vaccinated, as well as their families, and understand the importance of immunization. The techniques of genetic manipulation are complex and more widespread in the scientific environment, so it was observed that a large part of the interviewed population does not have an opinion on the subject. The research showed that because of the state of calamity caused by the pandemic, people had urgency in immunization, even with distrust in aspects such as efficiency. Currently, it is clear that vaccination does not prevent infection with the virus, but minimizes the damage caused by the infection. Data from the Ministry of Health show that the number of cases and deaths has reduced by more than 40%, showing once again the effectiveness and necessity of immunization of the population.