The Social Significance of Vaccination and Infodemia in the Context of COVID-19

Abstract

The most important preventive health services for the individuals, one of the fundamental steps in protection and promotion of public health, is immunization. Vaccination has many benefits for both public health and socioeconomic aspects. Vaccines rank at the top of the most important breakthroughs in public health in the twentieth century. Currently, humanity is afflicted with a new pandemic. Today, humanity is in trouble with a new pandemic. There is no medication known to cure COVID-19 completely. It is currently treated symptomatically. Besides the social struggle such as social isolation, hygiene, mask, distancing, our sole weapon is vaccination and herd immunity. In countries succeeding in vaccinating against Covid-19 in the world, the rates of infection, need for intensive care and hospitalization and death toll are decreased with increases in vaccination rates above a certain level. However, recently, anti-vaccine attitudes, discourses and behaviors have started to constitute the agenda. It is vital to be vaccinated to protect the population from vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. Therefore, vaccine hesitancy, anti-vaccine and infodemic must be combated.