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
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