Social Listening Report Number 78: 05 December 2022
- Title
- Social Listening Report Number 78: 05 December 2022
- Type of Report
- Social Listening Report
- Date
- December 5, 2022
- Key Trends In the Report
- The National State of Disaster for COVID-19 was lifted by the South African government. Online discussions had gained momentum around declining case numbers, hospitalisations, and vaccine-related controversies. There had been renewed interest in COVID-19 statistics, with Limpopo and Gauteng recording the highest new cases. Misinformation about booster shots had surged, with some dismissing them as propaganda.
- Misinformation by Period
- It had been falsely claimed that vaccinated individuals were dying more frequently from COVID-19 than the unvaccinated, fuelling distrust in vaccines. PCR tests had been labelled as fraudulent or unnecessary, with some alleging that they were part of a broader scheme to manipulate case numbers. Similar to mpox, Ebola misinformation had included accusations that the outbreak was staged or exaggerated.
- Suggested Recommendations
- The RCCE team had been advised to clearly communicate the national efforts to eliminate measles and polio. It had been recommended that general practitioners receive educational materials to encourage parents and caregivers to use the Children’s Road-to-Health booklet to keep children’s vaccinations up to date. As malaria transmission had increased, the RCCE team had collaborated with Limpopo province and relevant sectors such as tourism and transport. The RCCE team had continued to promote COVID-19 vaccination and booster campaigns, stressing the importance of maintaining immunity.
- Lockdown Level
- The National State of Disaster lifted
- Cumulative Cases
- 4 042 912
- Cumulative Deaths
- 104 572
- Cumulative Hospitalisations
- 545 914
- Cumulative Recoveries
- 3 938 340
- Total number of vaccines administered to date
- 37 994 503
- Geographical Region
- Africa (South Africa)
- Curators of the report
- Charity Bhengu
- Nombulelo Leburu.
- 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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