COVID-19 anti-vaccine sentiments in Malaysia: Narratives of comments from Facebook post

Wong, Li Ping and Alias, Haridah and Wong, Yee Lian and Megat Hashim, Megat Mohamad Amirul Amzar and Lin, Yulan and Hu, Zhijian (2023) COVID-19 anti-vaccine sentiments in Malaysia: Narratives of comments from Facebook post. Vaccines, 11 (4). ISSN 2076-393X, DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11040834.

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Abstract

The anti-vaccination movement was an ongoing issue in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear whether the introduction of new COVID-19 vaccines would similarly provoke anti-vaccine sentiments. This study analyzed COVID-19 anti-vaccine sentiments in the Malaysian community. Anti-vaccine comments from Facebook page posts were extracted. The qualitative software QSR-NVivo 10 was used to manage, code and analyze the data. The fast-track COVID-19 vaccine evoked the fear of unknown long-term effects, safety, effectiveness and the duration of protection. The halal status of the COVID-19 vaccines is important. Although it is permissible to use vaccines that are not certified halal under the state of darurah (emergency), there was doubt that the current state has reached the stage of darurah that warrants the use of vaccines. COVID-19 vaccine microchip conspiracy theories were raised. COVID-19 is viewed as only severe for vulnerable populations, and hence vaccination is not needed for the healthy. There were opinions that coronavirus treatments would be more beneficial than vaccination. The anti-COVID-19 vaccine sentiments uncovered in this study provide important insights for the formulation of public health messages to instill confidence in new COVID-19 vaccines. Despite the pandemic being nearly over and many people worldwide having received COVID-19 vaccines, the findings provide important insight into potential issues regarding the introduction of new vaccines in the event of future pandemics.

Item Type: Article
Funders: Special Projects of the Central Government Guiding Local Science and Technology Development, China (2021L3018)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Antivaccine; COVID-19; Social media
Subjects: R Medicine
Divisions: Faculty of Medicine
Depositing User: Ms Zaharah Ramly
Date Deposited: 04 Jul 2023 07:20
Last Modified: 04 Jul 2023 07:20
URI: http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/38380

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