Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the perception of the population about vaccines

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the opinion of the population about vaccines and if there was a decrease in the vaccine coverage during the pandemic. METHODS: A self-applied questionnaire was used with the internet with questions about de impact of the pandemic about the perception and adhesion of the population to the vaccine campaigns and about the probability to vaccinate to COVID-19 once there is an approved and available vaccine and de majority believe the vaccines should be mandatory. RESULTS: We reached 475 answers to the questionnaire that showed an increase of the importance that the population gives to vaccines in general after the pandemic, a decrease of the vaccine coverage during the pandemic and high probability that the population get vaccinated against COVID-19 once there is an available vaccine and most of the population consider that the vaccine should be mandatory, however a decreased vaccination coverage was detected during the pandemic. CONCLUSION: The results show a tendency of appreciation of the vaccines and a tendency of the population to get vaccinated as soon as there is an approved one, especially those that had or are having an education in the healthcare area, showing how the education in health contribute to the adhesion of the population to the vaccines, however the decrease in vaccine coverage is worrying. Also, it is possible to conclude that the population intend to vaccinate against COVID-19 as soon there is an approved vaccine in the country.