Social Listening Report Number 81: 13 February 2023

Title

Social Listening Report Number 81: 13 February 2023

Type of Report

Social Listening Report

Date

February 13, 2023

Key Trends In the Report

The national state of disaster was still lifted. Many Many South Africans remained uncertain about the need for flu vaccines after receiving COVID-19 boosters. There was widespread confusion regarding the number of COVID-19 booster doses required, especially for older adults. Claims that COVID-19 was a scam continued to circulate. Topics that gained traction included: Singapore’s decision to end mandatory mask-wearing. The US announcement to end its COVID-19 emergency declaration. South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruling that the COVID-19 Tourism Relief Fund was unlawful for favouring black-owned businesses.

Misinformation by Period

Some individuals believed that the pandemic was fabricated or exaggerated.There were widespread doubts about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. Many users argued that natural immunity was superior to vaccination. A common misconception was that the COVID-19 vaccine also protected against flu. Even some healthcare workers expressed anti-vaccine sentiments or shared misinformation, which added to public confusion and mistrust.

Suggested Recommendations

The Department of Health was advised to clearly communicate the purpose and schedule of COVID-19 booster shots, especially for older people. It was recommended that health authorities explain the difference between flu vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines. The report suggested that the Department should actively counter false claims. It was proposed that the National Health Hotline be better equipped to handle a wide range of queries, including mental health support, administrative issues, and non-health-related concerns.

Lockdown Level

The National State of Disaster lifted

Cumulative Cases

4 113 181

Cumulative Deaths

103 963

Cumulative Hospitalisations

For the period of 2023 in South Africa, there is no publicly released daily, weekly or even monthly continuing series of hospital admissions for COVID-19 through the DATCOV system after 31 December 2022. The NICD report states, "These daily COVID-19 hospitalisation reports have been discontinued from 31 December 2022". This implies that for 2023, hospitalisation data from that system are incomplete or not publicly reported in the same format.

Cumulative Recoveries

4 009 218

Number of vaccines administered for that week

8 634

Total number of vaccines administered to date

No Data

Geographical Region

South Africa, Malawi, Sudan, Mozambique. In total there were 13 countries in Africa affected by Cholera beginning of the year in 2023

Curators of the report

The National Department of Health (NDOH

National Health Hotline and University of the Free State

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