Two in three citizens keen on vaccination

THE COLOURED population in South Africa and Western Cape citizens are less willing to get vaccinated against Covid-19, new research has found.

Ask Afrika, in partnership with the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) and the Solidarity Fund, yesterday shared research insights into the public’s perceptions of the vaccine roll-out communication.

The research found that vaccine willingness was relatively high at 62% of South Africans, 28% were unwilling to receive the vaccine and the remainder were unsure.

The Ask Afrika chief executive and research psychologist Andrea Rademeyer, who presented the results to the media, said this meant that two out of three South Africans were willing to be vaccinated.

Indian communities are most willing to be vaccinated, followed by the black community and the white community, with the coloured community the least willing.

Provincially, citizens in the North West and Limpopo are the most willing to get vaccinated, with more than 70% willingness. Neutrality dominates the Northern Cape, while the Western Cape showed the highest percentage of unwillingness. “We can connect this somewhat to the coloured population being so unwilling to be vaccinated,” Rademeyer said.

She said there was a link between trust in the government and health experts and vaccine acceptance; however, the highest trust still lies with doctors and nurses.

Self-preservation is the biggest driver of overall vaccine acceptance, while protecting others is the second-most important reason among the 18-24 age group and over 60s.

Gauteng citizens are most likely to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the virus compared to other provinces, but they are also most likely to get vaccinated to protect others.

“It demonstrates how hard it is to communicate with different audiences. Television and radio adverts, which are so effective, have to be different by province,” she said.

“When we look at the 28% of South Africans who are unwilling to get vaccinated, half of them say they have little information on the vaccine roll-out plan. When one looks at the detail, this is the hardest group to communicate with simply because they have cut out and when they have Covid-19 information, they are not willing to listen,” the researcher said.

Rademeyer said mistrust and more information from doctors and nurses needed to be addressed on acceptance and hesitancy. “It doesn’t help to demonise those that are not willing to take the vaccine because it further pushes them away. It is only when those that don’t follow mainstream thoughts also feel accepted and spoken to respectfully that one might be able to get some base for change of perception,” she said.