Social Listening Report Number 62: 15 August 2022
- Title
- Social Listening Report Number 62: 15 August 2022
- Type of Report
- Social Listening Report
- Date
- August 15, 2022
- Key Trends In the Report
- The national state of disaster was still lifted.The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) confirmed the first vaccine-related death in Cape Town, linked to the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. There was a spike in online searches such as google searches or terms like “myocarditis”, “Guillain-Barré syndrome”, and “Covid vaccine death” A survey of over 2,000 women academics from South African universities revealed that the pandemic worsened gender disparities in research and career progression. The findings were welcomed as a call for institutional reform.
- Misinformation by Period
- After SAHPRA confirmed a vaccine-related death, misinformation spread rapidly. Some social media users falsely claimed that thousands had died from the vaccine, despite official data showing otherwise. Vaccines were wrongly associated with conditions like cancer, infertility, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. A persistent rumour suggested that vaccinated individuals could “shed” the vaccine and infect others simply by being nearby. Terms like “myocarditis” and “autoimmune disorders” were used out of context. Some believed that the government and pharmaceutical companies were hiding the true number of vaccine-related deaths or side effects.
- Suggested Recommendations
- The confirmed vaccine-related death in South Africa had dominated public discourse. It was recommended that communication efforts should be transparent about the facts but also reassuring. Face-to-face engagement remained effective in encouraging vaccination. Initiatives like door-to-door campaigns and community workshops by organisations such as Right To Care, COWG, and Zwakala had shown positive results and were recommended to continue. Healthcare professionals, especially community health workers, were seen as trusted sources of information.
- Lockdown Level
- The National State of Disaster lifted
- Cumulative Cases
- 4 008 332
- Cumulative Deaths
- 104 226
- Cumulative Hospitalisations
- 541 422
- Cumulative Recoveries
- 3 904 106
- Total number of vaccines administered to date
- 37 373 659
- Geographical Region
- Africa (South Africa)
- Curators of the report
- Herkulaas Combrink
- 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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