Social Listening Report Number 91: 18 September 2023

Title

Social Listening Report Number 91: 18 September 2023

Type of Report

Social Listening Report

Date

September 18, 2023

Key Trends In the Report

The national state of disaster was still lifted. Resistance to COVID-19 vaccination remained a major challenge. Public interest in COVID-19, especially regarding vaccines, had declined on social media. Social media platforms saw continued circulation of misleading content, including memes questioning vaccine effectiveness. A concerning trend emerged involving videos disguised as educational STEM content that spread false scientific claims. Confirmed human rabies cases in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Limpopo sparked scepticism among social media users, some of whom linked these cases to broader conspiracy theories following other outbreaks like cholera and measles.

Misinformation by Period

False claims continued to circulate, suggesting that vaccines were ineffective or harmful.Many individuals believed that natural remedies such as sunlight, vitamins, and healthy eating were sufficient to protect against COVID-19. A new form of misinformation emerged through videos disguised as educational STEM material. Some users linked unrelated health issues, such as breast cancer, to COVID-19 vaccines. Following confirmed rabies cases in several provinces, social media users speculated that these outbreaks were fabricated or exaggerated.

Suggested Recommendations

The report recommended a Measles fact sheet and a Cholera fact sheet. It was recommended that community mobilisation efforts be expanded. The report advised that communication strategies should be adapted to address the most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy. The report recommended that health authorities actively counter misinformation, especially content disguised as educational material. This included false STEM videos targeting children. It was advised that authorities remain vigilant about public reactions to other health emergencies, such as rabies and breast cancer.

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

2 639

Total number of vaccines administered to date

42356041

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

Charity Bhengu

Health Systems Trust

ICDF

KeReady

UNICEF and SA Red Cross.

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