Considerations on COVID-19 impact on the individual-society relationship: from vaccine hesitancy to the clamor for a vaccine

Abstract

Since March 2020, when the World Health
Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19
was a pandemic at global level, we are facing an
unprecedented health crisis over the past 100
years. While the search for a vaccine represents
the hope to overcome the pandemic, measures were
established to control the disease transmission
through individual and collective actions of
hygiene and physical distancing. Based on the
popular clamor for new vaccines, this critical
essay discusses the paradox and contradictions of
the individual-society relationship in the context
of COVID-19 considering vaccine hesitancy as
a historical and social phenomenon. We also
argue that decisions on (not) vaccinating or
(not) following COVID-19 control and preventive
measures are influenced by social belonging and
traversed by inequalities that tend to exacerbate.
COVID-19 surrounding infodemic and vaccine
hesitancy reflect the tension between scientificallyvalidated and self-perceived risk, besides being
impacted by the crisis of confidence in science.
Perceiving risk and adhering to precautionary
measures extrapolate subjectivity and rationality,
and mirror values and creed shaped by the political,
economic, and sociocultural dimensions.