South African Family Practice (Oct 2021)

Fake news and fallacies: Exploring vaccine hesitancy in South Africa

  • Avania Bangalee,
  • Varsha Bangalee

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4102/safp.v63i1.5345
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 63, no. 1
pp. e1 – e3

Abstract

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Historically, vaccine hesitancy (VH) has been a thorn in the side of public health efforts to contain and eradicate infectious diseases. This phenomenon is magnified in light of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Surveys conducted across South Africa since the outbreak of COVID-19 demonstrate the complexity of factors that contribute towards VH in this population. Amidst the negative press that the COVID-19 vaccine has received, especially across social media, understanding and combatting VH remains important to achieve herd immunity. This article aims to shed light on key factors fuelling COVID-19 VH in South Africa and provides a framework from which to address this problem.

Keywords