Study finds that not enough South Africans are prepared to be vaccinated against Covid-19

The study found that 19% of respondents said they did not plan to get vaccinated and 28% said they were unsure whether they would get vaccinated. Of this latter figure, significantly more females than males said they were unsure of whether they would get vaccinated.

Concern around the vaccine is relatively high with 53% of respondents saying they had concerns. Of this figure, those older than 35 years had significantly less concern about getting vaccinated than those younger than 34 years.

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The majority of South Africans are divided on the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines with only 47% of respondents saying they had trust in the vaccines. The South African government’s reversal on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine significantly dented trust in the vaccine programme as a whole.

Not surprisingly, the study found that vaccine safety was the biggest priority (44%), followed by just 22% who said that vaccine efficacy was a priority.

The study has revealed clear gender differences as far as perceptions of the vaccines are concerned. There is a significantly higher sense of distrust among males than females (39% compared to 26%) with 45% of men saying they will not get vaccinated while 38% say they are unsure about whether or not to get vaccinated and 60% say they are concerned about getting vaccinated.

Despite the fact that men have higher levels of distrust around the safety of the vaccine, 20% of women who trust the safety of the vaccine are unsure of whether they will be vaccinated or not. Of those women who don’t trust the safety of the vaccine, 60% say they will not get vaccinated, 38% are unsure whether they will get vaccinated and 72% are concerned about getting vaccinated.

Amongst the male respondents who trust the safety of the vaccine, the speed of delivery to South Africa becomes more important while efficacy is more important for females who trust the safety of the vaccine.

Given the debate around how the vaccines will be funded, of particular interest is the fact that nearly 75% of taxpayers surveyed for this study said they did not want to pay more tax to fund the vaccines. Interestingly, Black respondents were significantly more willing to pay more tax to fund vaccines than White respondents.

Just under half of all respondents said they are willing to pay for the vaccines themselves with the White population more willing to pay for their own vaccines than the Black population. Of those willing to pay for their own vaccines, the average price respondents were prepared to pay was R251 per vaccine. This is more than twice as much as would be necessary.

If the vaccine costs less than R200, 70% of those with a domestic worker or gardener said they would be willing to fund their vaccine.

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The majority of respondents (84%) believe that the entire African continent should unite in their fight against the virus, while 78% of respondents said South Africa should develop its own vaccine rather than having to rely on global powers for assistance. A total of 63% of respondents were concerned that the USA had bought all the experimental Covid-19 vaccine stock.

This is the first time that Ask Afrika has included the issue of vaccines in its Covid-19 Tracker study, a pro-bono study which the company has been conducting since the first week of April 2020 in order to better understand the socio-economic impact that the coronavirus, lockdown and gradual re-opening of the economy has on South Africans.

“This brief dipstick into vaccines, which we conducted last week, paints a complex picture of attitudes and perceptions with regards to the Covid-19 vaccine,” says Ask Afrika CEO Andrea Rademeyer. “Ideally this needs proper interrogation and funding. Based on our previous research into HIV Aids, it is clear that knowledge does not drive acceptance. Ideally we need to create a social narrative around the idea that having the vaccine is the right thing to do if we care for our family and friends.”

Rademeyer says she is particularly concerned about the eight to 13% of South Africans who refuse to buy into the Covid narrative. “This is a large enough number of potential super spreaders to potentially drive a new wave of mutations,” she says.

She adds that even though this study was conducted on a relatively small sample size – a representative sample of the general population consisting of 403 respondents – it indicates how urgently South Africa needs a quantified behavioural model of super spreaders and vaccines beliefs.

Andrea Rademeyer is much more than a CEO and Intellectual Researcher—she is an icon for female entrepreneurs on the continent and has gained success and global recognition as a leader in her field over the last 25 years. She sees business as playing a pivotal role in shaping and changing society and is committed to that change through uplifting societal voices.. Her commitment to honouring the voice of South African citizens is born out of an enduring passion for all things socio-political. Ask Afrika was founded in social research and this drive is still evident in weekly Covid-19 measurements, directed by Andrea’s thought leadership.

She is an acclaimed conversationalist who is respected for her integrity, loved for her eccentricity and well known for enjoying life to the fullest, having taken the front-seat on the roller-coaster of life.

Ask Afrika is known for innovative methodologies and Decisioneering. Andrea has served on two Covid19 MAC technical committees led by Prof Mokgatle and Prof Mehtar.

The Ask Afrika Covid19 Tracker is her passion and contribution to our country, during the Coronavirus Trauma.

Andrea is registered with SAMRA, ESOMAR, PAMRO and as a research psychologist, with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. She successfully completed the YPO-WPO Presidents’ Program at Harvard Business School, Boston USA (2015, 2016,2017, 2018) and has delivered several International papers, complimented by leadership awards and accolades

About Ask Afrika

Ask Afrika is a decisioneering company. We support our clients’ decisions through facts. Typically, our clients’ require information around social research and philanthropy, experience measures and consulting, and brand dynamics.

Social research decisions are required around HIV/Aids and more recently, Covid-19. Educational and early childhood development, fair-trade shopping, media and financial research are some of the areas we love to work in. NGO’s, public- and private sector clients choose to work with us to get the pulse of the nation.

Besides being decisioneers in brand and customer experience research, Ask Afrika is well known for creating some of the most useful, go-to industry benchmarks, including the Ask Afrika Orange Index®, the Ask Afrika Icon Brands®, the Ask Afrika Kasi Star Brands and the Target Group Index (TGI). Ask Afrika’s knowledge of brands is extensive. The Target Group Index (TGI) survey, which measures psychographics, service, products, media and brands, has been used by the majority of the top 50 advertisers and media owners in South Africa for nearly two decades.

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