Background:

Isolation is adopted worldwide during the different phases of the pandemic in an attempt to flatten the contagion curve and protect vulnerable groups.

Objective:

To discuss the social representations of older people about their social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodology:

Qualitative research based on the structural approach of social representations. 117 elderly people who sought immunization for influenza in a Brazilian Basic Health Unit in 2020 participated. Sociodemographic data and evocation technique were collected. Prototypical analysis was carried out after lexicographic, semantic reconciliation and co-occurrence testing in the EVOC and Iramuteq software.

Results:

The representations were aimed at “distancing” and anchored in the justifications “necessary-safe, make-possible, stay-home, limit-exit, danger-disease and prevention” that reflected the process of building social representations.

Conclusion:

The representations were objectified by distancing and anchored in the expressed justifications necessary-safe, make-possible, stay-at-home, limit-out, danger-disease and prevention, which reflected the process of construction of representations in a knowable perspective.

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