Social Listening Report Number 58: 18 July 2022
- Title
- Social Listening Report Number 58: 18 July 2022
- Type of Report
- Social Listening Report
- Date
- July 18, 2022
- Key Trends In the Report
- The national state of disaster was still lifted. Many South Africans believed that the Covid-19 pandemic had ended, which contributed to growing vaccine hesitancy. This sentiment conflicted with the World Health Organization’s warnings about new, highly transmissible variants like BA.5, which they described as the most contagious yet. Several major companies, including Standard Bank and Old Mutual, ended their mandatory vaccination policies. A widely shared study reviewing 30 research papers confirmed that Covid-19 vaccines were safe for pregnant women. Although mask mandates had been lifted, some individuals reported feeling uncomfortable or judged when choosing to wear masks in public.There was a spike in online searches for terms like “ninja Covid variant” and “Standard Bank vaccination.” Popular digital news stories included topics on employee rights regarding vaccination and the end of vaccine mandates.
- Misinformation by Period
- It was falsely claimed that banks and insurers had dropped vaccine mandates because vaccines were ineffective. Some believed that the lifting of Covid-19 regulations meant vaccination was no longer necessary. A myth circulated that vaccinated individuals were more likely to become seriously ill from Covid-19. There were unfounded claims that Covid-19 vaccines led to infertility and sexual dysfunction. Some misinformation suggested that monkeypox was either a fabricated disease or a cover-up for vaccine side effects. It was falsely claimed that Ivermectin could treat Covid-19. A conspiracy theory claimed that vaccines caused a form of immunodeficiency.
- Suggested Recommendations
- It was recommended that findings from the study confirming vaccine safety during pregnancy be widely shared across all communication platforms. Although mask mandates and other regulations had been lifted, the report advised that public messaging should still encourage practices like mask-wearing, physical distancing, avoiding crowded indoor spaces, and ensuring good ventilation.
- Lockdown Level
- The National State of Disaster lifted
- Cumulative Cases
- 4 000 631
- Cumulative Deaths
- 101 922
- Cumulative Hospitalisations
- 540 155
- Cumulative Recoveries
- 3 892 034
- Total number of vaccines administered to date
- 37 108 319
- Geographical Region
- Africa (South Africa)
- Curators of the report
- Charity Bhengu
- William Bird and Peter Benjamin
- 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
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