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© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

The vaccines against COVID-19 arrived in Spain at the end of 2020 along with vaccination campaigns which were not free of controversy. The debate was fueled by the adverse effects following the administration of the AstraZeneca-Oxford (AZ) vaccine in some European countries, eventually leading to its temporary suspension as a precautionary measure. In the present study, we analyze the healthcare professionals’ conversations, sentiment, polarity, and intensity on social media during two periods in 2021: the one closest to the suspension of the AZ vaccine and the same time frame 30 days later. We also analyzed whether there were differences between Spain and the rest of the world. Results: The negative sentiment ratio was higher (U = 87; p = 0.048) in Spain in March (Med = 0.396), as well as the daily intensity (U = 86; p = 0.044; Med = 0.440). The opposite happened with polarity (U = 86; p = 0.044), which was higher in the rest of the world (Med = −0.264). Conclusions: There was a general increase in messages and interactions between March and April. In Spain, there was a higher incidence of negative messages and intensity compared to the rest of the world during the March period that disappeared in April. Finally, it was found that the dissemination of messages linked to negative emotions towards vaccines against COVID-19 from healthcare professionals contributed to a negative approach to primary prevention campaigns in the middle of the pandemic.

Details

Title
Sentiment Analysis on Twitter: Role of Healthcare Professionals in the Global Conversation during the AstraZeneca Vaccine Suspension
Author
Ruiz-Núñez, Carlos 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Herrera-Peco, Ivan 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Campos-Soler, Silvia María 3 ; Carmona-Pestaña, Álvaro 3 ; Elvira Benítez de Gracia 2 ; Peña Deudero, Juan José 2 ; García-Notario, Andrés Ignacio 3 

 Program in Biomedicine, Translational Research, and New Health Technologies, School of Medicine, University of Malaga, Blvr. Louis Pasteur, 29010 Malaga, Spain 
 Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio, Avda Universidad, 1, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28691 Madrid, Spain 
 Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio, Avda Universidad, 1, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28691 Madrid, Spain 
First page
2225
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
1661-7827
e-ISSN
1660-4601
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2774904186
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.