Vaccines on Fantástico and Domingo Espetacular during the covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Brazil has been recording a decrease in the coverage rates of primary vaccines since 2016. Several factors can influence this scenario, including access to immunizers and people’s hesitation to take vaccines. The exchange of information about the topic increased considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we carried out an analysis of stories about vaccines shown on Fantástico, TV Globo, and on Domingo Espetacular, Record TV, from March 2020 to August 2021, aiming to investigate how both TV shows – both broadcast on Sundays and focused on infotainment, but with different editorial lines and audiences – presented the theme and provided visibility to it. The corpus analysis gathered 110 stories, a total of 10 hours and 43 minutes, submitted to content analysis. In general, the TV shows stimulated the population to trust the vaccines, but exaggerations and imprecisions were observed on the show on Record TV.