Social Listening Report Number 24: 26 October 2021
- Title
- Social Listening Report Number 24: 26 October 2021
- Type of Report
- Social Listening Report
- Date
- October 26, 2021
- Key Trends In the Report
- The country was still on alert level 1. The report covers opinions around vaccination rollout for teenagers there is mixed opinions on vaccinating children with some parents and groups opposing it due to the lack of parental approval however, there was significant reponse to vaccinating 12-17 year olds with over 39 000 registrations and nearly 7 000 vaccinations on the first day. The report also covered social media trends with increased search queries related to vaccination rollout for teenagers, vaccine certificates and vaccine safety and efficacy. Laslty, there was notable decrease in COVID-19 infections and deaths marked by the end of the third wave. There were also concerns about the safety of Pfizer vaccines and myocarditis and misconceptions around vaccine adverse reactions such as heart inflammations. There was continued interest in vaccine passports and discussions about booster shots.
- Misinformation by Period
- Pfizer and myocarditis concerns. Opposition to ‘forced’ vaccination and mandatory vaccination. Manipulated statistics around COVID-19 infections and deaths. Misinformation about the Sputnik vaccine being rejected due to an increased risk of HIV, which is opposed by some political groups.
- Suggested Recommendations
- Communicate to children about vaccine rollout for 12-17 year olds. Address vaccine hesitancy by addressing concerns about vaccine safety and concerns about vaccines for teenagers and their parents. Ensure easier access to vaccination sites. Clarify the need for booster shots and lastly, engage community leaders including religious leaders.
- Lockdown Level
- 1
- Cumulative Cases
- 2 920 110
- Cumulative Deaths
- 88 987
- Cumulative Hospitalisations
- 434 114
- Cumulative Recoveries
- 2 812 320
- Total number of vaccines administered to date
- 21 923 415
- Geographical Region
- Africa (South Africa)
- Curators of the report
- National Department of Health
- Stakeholders
- National Health Hotline: Reports from the national call centre
- Org: NDOH Covid-19 WhatsApp system
- WHO Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (AIRA)
- UNICEF: digital analysis of content on Google, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, and digital news
- SA Red Cross: Network of over 2,000 community volunteers reporting misinformation and concerns.
- Real 411 Media Monitoring Africa: a mis- and disinformation reporting and debunking initiative
- COVID Comms: a network of communications specialists that produces information on the pandemic.
- DOH Free State & KZN: Provincial Departments of Health
- Health Systems Trust, Community Constituency Front (CCF),
- Health Enabled
- Centre for Communication Impact, Centre for Analytics & Behavioural Change
- Medical Research Council, National Institute for Communicable Diseases,
- SA Vaccination and Immunisation Centre, HSRC, DG Murray Trust, Right to Care
- Universities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Free State, Wits, Stellenbosch, Sefako Makgatho
Position: 1162 (2 views)