- The latest NIDS-CRAM survey shows that 29% of South Africans are hesitant about getting Covid-19 jabs.
- Hesitancy rates are generally down from previous reports.
- More than a third of respondents aged between 18 and 24 said they were hesitant to get a Covid-19 vaccine.
- And fewer than 60% of Afrikaans-speaking respondents indicated their willingness to be innoculated, especially in the Northern and Western Cape.
Overall, less than a third of South Africans are hesitant about getting vaccinated against Covid-19. But those who speak Afrikaans at home are a lot more likely to have doubts, according to a new survey.
The majority of South Africans are increasingly eager to receive their jabs, suggests the latest NIDS-CRAM survey, which asked more than 5,600 interviewees if they would get a Covid-19 vaccination. More than half of the respondents (55%) "strongly agreed" to receiving the vaccine, while 16% "somewhat agreed".
The data gathered by the National Income Dynamics Study Coronavirus Rapid Mobile survey – or NIDS-CRAM – shows lower hesitancy rates than those identified in a previous study completed by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).
The study, involving 30 researchers from leading local universities, departments, and science councils, argues that its sampling frame, drawn from an existing nationally representative survey, has estimates that "are the most representative vaccine intention results to date."
The NIDS-CRAM Wave 4 survey, conducted between 2 February and 10 March 2021, has identified hesitancy rates according to age, gender, population group, home language, geography, and level of education.
Among the 29% of respondents who are vaccine hesitant, almost a third cited concerns about the jab's side-effects as a primary reason for being wary. Just over 20% of vaccine hesitant respondents worried about the vaccine’s effectiveness, and 18% reported "being against vaccines in general."
Other concerns include uncertainty about the safety of the vaccine (14%), lack of trust in government (2%), affordability, and time (both 1%).
Of all the age groups surveyed, 37% of respondents aged between 18 and 24 said they were hesitant to get vaccinated against Covid-19, significantly higher than the national average of 29%.
Respondents over the age of 60 are most willing to be vaccinated (72.8%).
And while the NIDS-CRAM study found no clear correlation between hesitancy or willingness rates and socioeconomic status, evidence points to levels of education playing a role in the acceptance of vaccines. Respondents with only primary schooling are more likely to be vaccine hesitant, while more than 75% of those with a tertiary education indicated that they are willing to take the jab.
Other statistically significant differences were recorded among diverse population groups and home language speakers, where coloured and Afrikaans-speaking South Africans ranked as the most vaccine hesitant, respectively.
"We find that 42% of Afrikaans home language respondents were vaccine hesitant, much higher than the national average [29%] and if we use a 90% significance threshold, the mean for Afrikaans speakers are significantly higher than 7 of the 11 language groups," the Wave 4 presentation notes.
"Although NIDS-CRAM is not provincially representative, in light of the language results and the predominance of Afrikaans in the Western Cape and Northern Cape, it is also clear that respondents from these provinces had higher vaccine hesitancy on average."
Of the respondents with Sesotho as their home language, 35% indicated that they are vaccine hesitant. A third of all English respondents also indicated hesitancy.
Vaccine hesitancy rates among isiXhosa and isiZulu speakers matched, with a quarter of respondents indicating their wariness. Tshivenda speakers had the lowest hesitancy rates of just 18%.
"Taken together, these language and provincial results suggest that campaigns targeted at both of these provinces and at Afrikaans' home language speakers is supported by this data," adds NIDS-CRAM.
In terms of hesitancy rates among different population groups, NIDS-CRAM found that black South Africans were most willing (73%) to be vaccinated against Covid-19, while coloured South Africans were the most hesitant, with just 57.6% of respondents indicating their willingness.
Just under 61% of Indian and Asian respondents indicated that they were willing to receive their jabs. Of all white respondents, 65% indicated they would accept a Covid-19 vaccine if it were available.
The NIDS-CRAM survey interviews adults from households in the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS). This well-being study started in 2008 with around 28,000 people, tracking changes over time through follow-up interviews which would be extended to people sharing the household with the respondent. Almost 40,000 people were interviewed in 2017.
(Compiled by Luke Daniel)
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