In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic remained uncontrolled in Brazil, with more than 17.6 million cases diagnosed and more than a half a million deaths in total. It is known that an accurate risk perception by populations and a consequent adherence to preventive measures can increase the effectiveness of policies to contain the transmission of infectious diseases. The objective of this study was to draw a panorama of COVID-19 in São Paulo State and investigate the population's risk perception about the new coronavirus, attitudes regarding preventive measures and vaccine confidence through an open web survey. A total of 1111 individuals participated (71.6% females). Of those, 15% declared themselves unemployed, almost 6% lost their jobs during the pandemic, and more than 30% suffered a decrease in their monthly income. As for the COVID-19, almost 32% of the participants were tested sometime in 2020, and 11.3% reported a confirmed diagnosis for a level of hospitalisation of 5%. As for the risk perception, it was observed that situations with crowds of people were more frequently considered as of high risk and cause of greater concern with contamination of family members than with themselves. Almost 23% of the participants questioned whether they would take the vaccine when available and do not know if the COVID-19 vaccine will be safe for the population. Almost 70% disagreed with the statement that the actions of the country's health authorities are effective in combating COVID-19. Considering the Cramer's V coefficient, these variables were not associated with gender or educational level.
Keywords: Brazil; COVID-19; coronavirus; epidemiology; populations at risk; public health; vaccines.
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.