Social Listening Report Number 86: 12 June 2023

Title

Social Listening Report Number 86: 12 June 2023

Type of Report

Social Listening Report

Date

June 12, 2023

Key Trends In the Report

The national state of disaster was still lifted. Misinformation continued to fuel hesitancy. Research showed that at least one in eight people believed or were unsure about false claims regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Children were found to be significant spreaders of COVID-19 within households, with 70% of transmissions reportedly starting with a child. Social media users reacted negatively to cholera prevention messages, citing issues like lack of access to clean water and the impact of loadshedding. There was high demand for flu vaccines, especially among pro-vaccine users who encouraged others to get vaccinated. However, some rejected the vaccine, claiming it was ineffective or worsened their symptoms. Although flu cases were fewer than in previous years, H1N1 was reportedly the dominant strain detected.

Misinformation by Period

Some individuals believed that vaccinated people were more likely to fall seriously ill from COVID-19. This claim was proven false. A common misconception was that measles only affected children. Some users claimed that the flu vaccine either didn’t work or made their symptoms worse. Misinformation spread confusion about the vaccine registration process and eligibility, leading to frustration and attempts to bypass official systems.

Suggested Recommendations

Building the capacity of health workers as the trusted sources could also help to address misinformation among their patients. The report advised that government and health authorities needed to restore public confidence in official health messaging. It was recommended that messaging be tailored to address specific concerns and misinformation.

Lockdown Level

The National State of Disaster lifted

Cumulative Cases

4 126 981

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

4 023 018

Number of vaccines administered for that week

1 971

Total number of vaccines administered to date

No Data

Geographical Region

Africa (South Africa)

Curators of the report

Charity Bhengu

National Department of Health

HST

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