COVID-19 Anti-Vaccine Sentiments in Malaysia: Narratives of Comments from Facebook Post

Abstract

The anti-vaccination movement was an ongoing issue in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear whether the introduction of new COVID-19 vaccines would similarly provoke anti-vaccine sentiments. This study analyzed COVID-19 anti-vaccine sentiments in the Malaysian community. Anti-vaccine comments from Facebook page posts were extracted. The qualitative software QSR-NVivo 10 was used to manage, code and analyze the data. The fast-track COVID-19 vaccine evoked the fear of unknown long-term effects, safety, effectiveness and the duration of protection. The halal status of the COVID-19 vaccines is important. Although it is permissible to use vaccines that are not certified halal under the state of darurah (emergency), there was doubt that the current state has reached the stage of darurah that warrants the use of vaccines. COVID-19 vaccine microchip conspiracy theories were raised. COVID-19 is viewed as only severe for vulnerable populations, and hence vaccination is not needed for the healthy. There were opinions that coronavirus treatments would be more beneficial than vaccination. The anti-COVID-19 vaccine sentiments uncovered in this study provide important insights for the formulation of public health messages to instill confidence in new COVID-19 vaccines. Despite the pandemic being nearly over and many people worldwide having received COVID-19 vaccines, the findings provide important insight into potential issues regarding the introduction of new vaccines in the event of future pandemics.

Understanding Through the Click: How Social Media Guides or Misleads the Issue of Halal Products

“…Related to the Halal issue, one of the major debates that explode priorly is regarding the issue of the COVID-19 vaccine's Halal status. Due to this news, society-especially in the Muslim majority country-split into two sides, where some of them accept to get vaccinated because the pandemic is under emergency situation, while the other side resists and becomes anti-vaccine (Wong et al, 2023). During this moment, a study by Feizollah et al (2022) analyzed how trust became the top-notch emotion in the Halal issue post regarding Halal Vaccination Discourse, followed by anticipation and fear.…”