Scientific arguments regarding COVID-19 vaccines in the countryside of Pernambuco

Abstract

This study has sought to analyze the views of people from Pernambuco’s countryside, both from the academic world and outside it, regarding vac-cines and their efficiency to combat COVID-19, focusing on argumentation and scientific literacy. The research was the result of the discipline “Argu-mentation and Scientific Literacy”, of the Communication course linked to the Academic Center in the Northeastern Agreste (CAA/UFPE), located in the city of Caruaru. The data collection occurred through a survey on Google Forms, composed of open and multiple choice questions. A total of 53 survey respondents were contemplated, from various cities in the countryside of Pernambuco, with ages ranging from 16 to 76. The answers showed that 52 respondents positioned themselves in favor of vaccines, while one stated to be more or less in favor. In addition, 41 respondents said they believe in the effectiveness of vaccines, while 11 were uncertain about it. The arguments theorized about cause and effect, pragmatic, me-ans and ends, authority, symbolic and examplary types, as advocated by Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca (2005), and, with the data analysis, it has been noted that the indicators of scientific literacy, proposed by Sasseron and Carvalho (2011), were present in the arguments of both people from academia and outside it, showing varying degrees of scientific literacy. The respondents stated that television newscasts, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube) and internet research were the main sources of information that subsidized the arguments presented.