Abstract
BackgroundVaccine hesitancy is emerging as a significant challenge in many parts of the world in the fight against the COVID19 pandemic. The continued infection amongst the unvaccinated can lead to a heightened risk of further virus mutation, exposing even those vaccinated to new virus strains. Therefore, there are social benefits in minimising vaccine hesitancy. The objective of this study is to assess the level of COVID19 vaccine hesitancy in South Africa, identify the socio-economic patterns in vaccine hesitancy and highlight insights from the national survey that can inform the development of a COVID-19 vaccination acceptance communication campaign.MethodsThe study uses the nationally representative National Income Dynamics Study - Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) survey. The analysis combines univariate and bivariate statistics, as well as multivariate regression models like binomial/ordinal and multinomial logit.ResultsThe study finds that vaccine acceptance is lower than that of non-pharmaceutical intervention like face-mask use. Only 55% fully accept the vaccine, while a further 16% are moderately accepting of vaccines. Together, vaccine acceptance is estimated at 70.8%, and vaccine hesitancy against COVID19 is estimated at 29.2% amongst the adult South African population.The study has identified the perceived risk of infection with the mediating role of efficacy as a key predictor of vaccine intention. Higher awareness of COVID19 related information and higher household income are correlated with lower vaccine hesitancy. The non-black African population group has significantly high vaccine hesitancy compared to black Africans.ConclusionsThere are other significant differences across socio-economic and demographic variables in vaccine hesitancy. From a communication perspective, it is imperative to continue risk messaging, hand in hand with clearer information on the efficacy of the vaccines.
Highlights
Vaccine hesitancy is emerging as a significant challenge in many parts of the world in the fight against the COVID19 pandemic
While the focus of protective behaviour for the first year of the COVID19 pandemic relied on nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI) like the use of facemask, hand hygiene, social distancing, and staying at home; the successful development of various COVID19 vaccines has expanded the available approaches to protective behaviour in South Africa
This study aims to assess the level of COVID19 vaccine hesitancy in South Africa, identify the socioeconomic patterns in vaccine hesitancy, and develop insights from the national survey that can inform the development of a COVID-19 vaccination acceptance communication campaign
Summary
Vaccine hesitancy is emerging as a significant challenge in many parts of the world in the fight against the COVID19 pandemic. The continued infection amongst the unvaccinated can lead to a heightened risk of further virus mutation, exposing even those vaccinated to new virus strains. While the focus of protective behaviour for the first year of the COVID19 pandemic relied on nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI) like the use of facemask, hand hygiene, social distancing, and staying at home; the successful development of various COVID19 vaccines has expanded the available approaches to protective behaviour in South Africa. Previous studies have shown that acceptance of NPI based protective behaviour is high in South Africa and has improved from 92% in May–June 2020 to 97% in July–August 2021 as the pandemic progressed [1, 2]. Continued infection amongst the unvaccinated can lead to a heightened risk of further virus mutation, exposing even those vaccinated (against the earlier strains of the virus) to new virus strains [4].
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