Social Listening Report Number 73: 31 October 2022

Title

Social Listening Report Number 73: 31 October 2022

Type of Report

Social Listening Report

Date

October 31, 2022

Key Trends In the Report

The national state of disaster was lifted. Public discussions around vaccine mandates resurfaced after reports emerged of workers being reinstated following dismissals for refusing vaccination. Many social media users criticised employers, labelling the mandates as coercive and expressing distrust in the vaccines. A slight increase in COVID-19 infections was observed, mainly due to the BA.4 and BA.5 variants. On 26 October, 2,215 new cases were reported, with a positivity rate of 9.8%, slightly up from the previous week

Misinformation by Period

It was falsely claimed that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine caused Type 1 diabetes in children. Some believed that long COVID symptoms were actually long-term side effects of the vaccine. Claims circulated that COVID-19 vaccines caused heart attacks and heart inflammation. While rare cases of myocarditis were acknowledged, there was no proof linking vaccines directly to heart attacks. Rumours suggested vaccines led to infertility and erectile dysfunction. Some posts alleged that vaccine side effects were being hidden and that many deaths were being covered up. A rumour suggested that over half of pregnant women miscarried during Pfizer’s vaccine trials.

Suggested Recommendations

Addressing Practical Barriers to Vaccination. Promoting vaccine safety and uptake. With the festive season approaching and increased travel and gatherings expected, the RCCE planned to intensify its “Safer Holidays” campaign to promote vaccination as a protective measure. The RCCE TWG pledged to assist Limpopo province with advocacy, communication, and social mobilisation in response to the measles outbreak. Encouraging routine chilhood immunisation because the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a drop in routine childhood vaccinations, including for measles.

Lockdown Level

The National State of Disaster lifted

Cumulative Cases

4 028 160

Cumulative Deaths

104 440

Cumulative Hospitalisations

544 203

Cumulative Recoveries

3 923 720

Total number of vaccines administered to date

37 811 303

Geographical Region

Africa (South Africa)

Curators of the report

Charity Bhengu (NDOH) and William Bird (Real 411). T

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