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As the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet subsided, CGTN Think Tank has released an analytical report on the global situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This report looks into public opinion on pandemic prevention and control efforts worldwide by selecting 18 countries from six continents on the basis of equal geographical representation, with a view to better understand global perception on pandemic prevention and control. A total of 22,419 comments made on pandemic-themed posts of the official Twitter accounts of 18 national health authorities were scraped from 29th June to 15th July.
1. Evaluation of Public Opinion on National Pandemic Prevention and Control Efforts(Percentage)
The public opinion evaluation resultsbased oncomments made on Twitter posts of 18 national health authoritiesfrom 29thJune to 15thJuly 2021, showed Egyptian and Brazilian health authorities received more than a quintile of positive comments. Of all the comments madeonEgyptian health authorities, 27.1% were positive, with 67.8% being neutral and only 5.1% negative. Many Internet users praised the Egyptian government for its effective pandemic prevention effort and showed appreciation via comments.ForBrazil,positive, neutral and negativecommentswere20.8%, 34.6% and 44.6%respectively, with positive ones affirming the government'sworkonvaccination promotion.
Aspecial note should be made to indicate this ranking was based on positive comments made during a designated monitoring time period. It does not in any way represent the overall evaluation of various nationals since the outbreak.
2. High-Frequency WordList
The high-frequency wordlistbased on comments made on Twitter posts of 18 national health authorities from 29thJune to 15thJuly 2021, showed 3 keywords were mentionedmore than 2,000 times:
vaccine, vaccination
andcoronavirus
. The wordvaccine
had 3,732 mentions, ranking the highest in terms of frequency inBrazil, Indonesia, South Africa, Egypt and Australia. It was used most frequently by Brazilians with 840 times. The wordvaccination
had 2,392 mentions, ranking the highest inCanada, Argentina and Germany.Mexico, the United Kingdom and Indonesia contributed most to the mention of the wordcoronavirus
, which totaled 2,347 times.
Three less mentioned keywords were
lockdown
,treatment
andopening up
. Among the 18 countries,only a few dozen Malaysians were interested in lockdown
and opening up
, mentioned 28 and 12 times, respectively. Their sentiments around these two words were mostly about the containment of the pandemic, demonstrating a stronger will of carrying out a stricter lockdown to curb the spread of virus variants. A few Egyptians talked abouttreatment
, 26 times in total, showing an earnestness in having the infected receiving timely treatment.
3. Frequency of All Key Words by Continent
The word frequency list by continents from 29thJune to 15thJuly 2021, showed 9 countries from North America, South America and Europe share the top 10 most-discussed words, with hundreds of mentions of
vaccines, vaccination, government
and health
.In South America, Brazilianslike to talk aboutvaccines
(840 times). In Europe, Germans were mostly focused onvaccination
(426 times) andDeltavariant
(127 times). The French were most concerned aboutgovernment
andhealth
, with 751 and 667 timesof mentionrespectively.
Among the people in 9countriesfromAsia, Africa and Oceania, Indians, Indonesiansand South Africanshad higher enthusiasm in commenting. In Asia, Indians’ concern with
government
(533 times)were significantly higher than other subjects. Indonesians were most concerned aboutvaccines
(579 times). SouthAfricanshad a general interest invaccine
,vaccination
andcoronavirus
, all of whichwere mentioned more than 150 times.
4. Word Frequency Analysis by Continents and Countries
(1) North America
Comments on pandemic-themed posts from the 3 countries in North America from 29thJune to 15thJuly 2021, demonstrated a public interest in
vaccination,vaccine
andcoronavirus
with afrequency of 730, 686 and 646times respectively.Quarantine
andtravel
also received adequate amount of attention. Canadians had a higher degree of participation in commenting, with 195 and 92 times of mention onquarantine
andtravel
in the hope of reopening the border and rebooting their trade and tourism. Mexicans were more concerned with the source of the virus so that its spreading could be stalled from the epicenter, as represented by 84 times of mention. Americans showed a low participation will whilst revealed an interest invaccination, vaccine
andcoronavirus
.
(2) South America
Comments from two countries in South America from 29thJune to 15thJuly 2021 showed a higher mention of
vaccine
(997 times) andvaccination
(599 times), with an additional focus ongovernment
andhealth
. Brazilians showed higher enthusiasm in commentingas shown by330 and 241 mentions ingovernment
andhealth
. They are mentioned out of affirmation on the country's efforts in promoting the vaccination. Argentinians were more concerned with COVID-relateddeath
(58 times) and referred to the pandemic death report in their commentsmany times.
(3) Europe
Comments on pandemic-themed posts from 4 countries in Europe from 29thJune to 15thJuly 2021 showed a different area of focus compared to the comments from other continents as illustrated by the 836 and 756 times of mention of
government
andhealth
. The Frenchcontributedto more than 90% of the mention of these two words in the 4 European countries, 751 and 667 times respectively.In Germany, the wordvaccination
had a higher mention(426 times), with comments focused onvaccine efficacyprovided by the government.People in the UK were mostly concerned with COVID-19 confirmed cases and mortality numbers as demonstrated by their mention ofcoronavirus
(416 times) anddeath
(311 times). TheSpanishhad their minds onrisk
(228 times),asissues of vaccines and policy riskswere mostly discussed.
(4)Asia
Commentson pandemic-themed postsfrom six countries in Asia from 29thJune to 15thJuly 2021, showed higher mentions of
vaccine, coronavirus
andvaccination,
with the frequencybeing626, 428 and 371timesrespectively.
People are also concerned withdose
andhealth
. Indonesians shared the most enthusiasm in commenting, contributing to 80-90 percent of all the mentions ofdose
(579times)andhealth
(346times) among the 6 countries.Japanese commented more aboutvaccine
(12 times), describing theirmentalityregarding thevaccinationprocess.Singaporeans'concernoncoronavirus
(62 times)was mostly about itstransmission and treatment. Malaysians mentioned the wordshutdown
60 times in comments, urging border closures and quarantine policies to stop the spread of the pandemic. Indianswere mostlyworried about theactions of the government
(533 times),expressingopinions onthe government'sefforts. Israelis paid more attention to the wordvaccination
(31 times) anddose
(30 times),indicating an interest in vaccination and numbers of people vaccinated.
(5) Africa
Comments on pandemic-themed posts from two countries inAfricafrom 29thJune to 15thJuly 2021showed
vaccine
(413 times),vaccination
(196 times) andcoronavirus
(168 times)were mentioned most frequently.The continent had a special focus ondeath
-related topics.Therewereahighernumber of comments from South Africa, accountingfor 67% of thetotal. The worddeath
was mentioned 131 times,conveying concernsand careabout the death toll. Egyptianstook a special interest invirus
(51 times) andtourist
(35 times) astourismis an important pillar in the country.
(6)Oceania
Comments on pandemic-themed posts fromAustralia from 29thJune to 15thJuly, 2021showed
coronavirus
(40 times),vaccine
(35 times) andvaccination
(16times) werethe highest mentions. In addition,Australian government
andinfographic
were referred to for 12 and 10 times respectively.The vaccine brand, the number ofthosevaccinated, and the statistics methodology onpandemic informationwere also words of interest.
In general, topics on vaccination are of high interestin much of the world's population.But, there is a stark contrast due to a chronic shortage of vaccines in many countries. Anxieties and dissatisfactions over this reality were compounded by factors such as the insufficient coverage of population with existing vaccine resources and overdue second doses.
The United Statestopped Bloomberg's recent
COVID Resilience Ranking
. But, this report did show the dissatisfaction of the American people on their government’s pandemic prevention efforts; and they are mostly concerned withvaccine
andvaccination
like the rest of the world as opposed to thereopening progress
in the ranking.
In a world with a worsening COVID-19 spread, joint efforts are the path forward for humanity to rise above this challenge. The virus will only be fully contained with practical international cooperation as we tackle substantial issues such as mass vaccinations and the building of a global network for pandemic prevention and control.
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