Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Public Health: From Theory to Practice, cilt.1, sa.1, ss.1-15, 2023 (SSCI)
Aim An abundance of information and rumors pertaining to
COVID-19 vaccines has disseminated extensively especially through Twitter. The
primary objective of this study is to explore and analyze the prevailing
perceptions and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines as manifested within the
Twitter ecosystem.
Subject and Methods The utilization of social media
platforms for conducting public health analyses during pandemics has garnered
heightened attention. Twitter, in particular, offers the potential to present
trustworthy and real-time data regarding public opinions during crises, owing
to the presence of verified accounts belonging to public health officials and
authorities. This study employs a text mining methodology and sentiment
analysis to examine a comprehensive dataset comprising 66,048 tweets. These
tweets, posted between the 5th and 14th of October 2021, focus on four COVID-19
vaccines (AstraZeneca, Biontech, Sinovac and Sputnik5), with the aim of
scrutinizing the prevailing perceptions and attitudes towards these vaccines
within the Twitter community.
Results The results are presented as text and sentiment analysis.
As a result of the text analysis, the efficacy and side effects of the vaccines
are the main topics to be discussed. According to sentiment analysis,
AstraZeneca and Biontech have more percentage of negative tweets associated
with them whereas Sinovac and Sputnik5 have more percentage of positive tweets.
Conclusion The sentiment analysis of tweets regarding vaccines
highlights the intricate relationship between the textual aspects and formal
features of the tweets. Furthermore, it offers insights into the level of
influence and dissemination exhibited by these tweets within the Twitter
ecosystem.