Social Listening Report Number 82: 28 February 2023

Title

Social Listening Report Number 82: 28 February 2023

Type of Report

Social Listening Report

Date

February 28, 2023

Key Trends In the Report

The national state of disaster was still. Conversations revealed widespread mistrust and conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 vaccines. Despite reports of a large stockpile of vaccines (29.7 million doses), many individuals struggled to find vaccination sites with available stock. Some vaccination sites required a minimum number of people before opening a vial, leading to frustration.

Misinformation by Period

Social media platforms were flooded with claims that vaccines were part of a global control agenda. There were widespread rumours that COVID-19 vaccines caused miscarriages, infertility, and long-term health issues. Misinformation often targeted government and health officials, accusing them of hiding the truth or being influenced by pharmaceutical companies. Tweets and posts from public figures spread incorrect information about vaccines and self-testing kits, which were then widely shared and believed by followers.

Suggested Recommendations

The report advised that health authorities should actively counter misinformation, especially on social media. It was recommended that vaccination sites improve stock visibility and communicate clearly about availability. To tackle vaccine hesitancy rooted in religious concerns, it was suggested that trusted leaders be involved in public health messaging. Communication strategies were encouraged to be gender-sensitive and culturally relevant.

Lockdown Level

The National State of Disaster lifted

Cumulative Cases

4 115 879

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

4 011 916

Number of vaccines administered for that week

6 799

Total number of vaccines administered to date

39093202

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

NDOH

National Health Hotline

NICD

Red Cross

HST and UFS

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