In a series of surveys looking at vaccine acceptance rates, researchers found that those living in rural areas, informal settlements and townships were less likely to get vaccinated because they were less likely to have their own transport.
looking at current vaccine acceptance and hesitancy rates, researchers from the University of Johannesburg and the Human Sciences Research Council and found that those living in rural areas, informal settlements and townships were less likely to get vaccinated because they were less likely to have their own transport.
“Access intersected very unfortunately with class. So if you have a car that works, you are slightly more likely to have been vaccinated than someone who doesn’t have access to a car,” said the director of the Centre for Social Change at UJ, Professor Carin Runciman. “A similar issue comes up related to medical aid, with medical aid, we have twice the rate of vaccination compared to those without medical aid.” Those aged 55 years and above had a high acceptance rate of 85%, compared to just 55% of young people between the ages of 18 and 34 years old. “It does seem like younger people have a slightly larger concern with side-effects. In our analysis, most people said their reasons for hesitancy were around concerns over the side-effects and the effectiveness of the vaccine,” explained Runciman. “Younger people have a slightly larger belief that they are less likely to be at risk of Covid-19. They have higher levels of being uncertain about taking the vaccine, which tells us that the hesitancy is not that entrenched.” stated that supply outstripped demand for vaccines. According to the report, South Africa’s highest daily vaccination rate was on 21 July, when 273 011 people got their jabs. On 13 August only 153 999 people turned out at the various vaccination sites. This is a decline of about 50% from a month ago. Only 181 862 adults were vaccinated on 17 August, increasing the number of partially vaccinated people to 9.75-million people while 126 434 received their second Pfizer jabs on that day, increasing the number of fully vaccinated adults to 4.33-million.Only 40% of eligible men had been vaccinated, compared to close to 60% of women, by 17 August. But this does not necessarily mean that men were hesitant, especially in the 60+ age group. “One factor is that in the over-60 cohort, there are more women, three out of every five people in that group are women. A second factor is around access; men are more likely to be employed in the formal labour market. What other findings in the report suggest is that although people who either work part-time or full-time have high levels of acceptance, we have slightly lower rates of vaccination,” Runciman elaborated. She added that the findings suggested that men were struggling to access vaccination sites on weekdays.
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