A growing proportion of SA adults say they are willing to get a coronavirus vaccine if one is offered to them, reflecting increasing confidence in the shots as the country’s inoculation drive gets under way, according to the latest round of a large national study that has been running since shortly after the pandemic began.
It found vaccine acceptance had increased to 76% in April-May, up from 71% in February-March, the highest level yet reported in SA.
The National Income Dynamics Study — Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) has been conducted five times since the coronavirus pandemic began, enabling researchers to track trends in key issues such as employment, hunger and education. Data for the fifth round of the survey was collected between April 6 and May 11, and for the second time included detailed questions about people’s willingness to get vaccinated against Covid-19. The survey included 5,862 interviews and was nationally representative.
The Human Sciences Research Council Covid-19 Democracy survey conducted in December 2020 and January 2021 estimated vaccine intention at 67%, while the Ipsos-World Economic Forum survey 2021 reported vaccine intention at 64% at the end of February.
The most recent NIDS-CRAM survey period overlapped with the first stage of SA’s vaccination drive, which targeted healthcare workers, and coincided with the government’s temporary pause on the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shot over safety concerns. While fear and concern about vaccines may have been heightened by the pause, it appears vaccine hesitancy diminished as the rollout gained momentum, said study co-author Ronelle Burger, an economist at the University of Stellenbosch.
“Many more people were hesitant when it was abstract. Only when it becomes a real possibility do they give it real consideration and get over some of the not-so-well founded fears they had initially. Knowing people who had the vaccine and survived it weighs more heavily than social media rumours,” she said.
Vaccination for healthcare workers began in mid-February, and was opened up to the general population in stages, beginning with the over 60 year olds, on May 17.
Almost half (47%) of the respondents who were vaccine hesitant in February-March had changed their minds and agreed to be inoculated when asked the same questions in April-May.
The study found the most common reason for believing vaccines were unsafe was concern they had been developed so fast that they had not been adequately tested, with a third of the respondents who thought they were unsafe saying it was because development had been rushed. Of the people who said they were concerned vaccines could harm them, one in five of were concerned about side-effects, but only 1% cited conspiracy theories and less than 1% said they believed the vaccines would alter their DNA.
“I am quite encouraged by the fact that most of the motivation given for worrying about vaccines is quite rational, which one can alleviate through messaging,” said Burger.
The survey found many respondents were willing to accept vaccines if local community leaders were inoculated and stayed healthy. Half the respondents who expressed hesitancy about vaccines said they would be convinced if trusted local leaders took the shot.
Burger said these findings resonated with the approach taken in Limpopo, which vaccinated church and community leaders first. Limpopo also launched a door-to-door registration drive, and by early July was reporting SA’s highest registration levels among the over 60s in SA. About 77% of the over 60s had registered for vaccination in Limpopo, compared with a national average of 55%.
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