Percepción de los familiares de adultos mayores ante la aplicación de la vacuna contra el covid-19 en la comunidad de patutan provincia cotopaxi

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has become a worldwide health problem, with Ecuador being one of the most affected Latin American countries. This disease has been catalogued as a stress triggering factor, impacting the population regardless of age, sex, economic or social status; therefore, the elderly people have been one of the most affected groups. Numerous laboratories and pharmaceutical companies began to carry out studies that would lead to the development of a vaccine to start generating immunity in people, in order to avoid the appearance of serious complications. Thus, by the year 2021, the vaccination process will begin, becoming an essential health service to protect the population from contracting COVID-19; therefore, it is recommended that adults over 65 years of age be considered one of the priority groups for the administration of the vaccine. Objective: To determine the perception of family members of elderly people on the application of the vaccine against COVID-19 in the community of Patutan, Cotopaxi province. Materials and Methods: A qualitative, descriptive, field design research was carried out, where the population studied included the relatives of older adults in the community of Patutan, Cotopaxi province; information was obtained through semi-structured interviews, which were conducted until data saturation was reached, where there were not new contributions from key informants. Once the interviews were conducted, the data were transcribed word by word and analyzed based on the Grounded Data Theory, creating categories and subcategories. The research was governed by the ethical principles indicated in the Declaration of Helsinki: respect, confidentiality and autonomy of the participants. Results: The relatives of the older adults who have received the vaccine against COVID-19 indicated that inoculation is important, innocuous and to avoid this dangerous disease. The evidenced knowledge is catalogued as very good; for them, the advantages provided by these vaccines are several, however, they feel

fear of the side effects that may occur after inoculation, however, they consider it is important that their older adults receive the full doses of vaccine. Conclusions: The research participants expressed their perspective and showed knowledge about the COVID-19 vaccine, although they have doubts and fears due to false information that has been circulated in different media regarding the adverse effects that may occur and that may vary according to the type of vaccine inoculated.