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Covid-19 vaccination acceptance intentions and other related factors in South Africa: Unpacking beyond the dichotomy of “vaccine hesitancy” discourse

17 March 2022
13:00 - 14:30

Thursday, 17 March 2022 || 15:00 -16:30

Chair: Dr K Sobane, HSRC

Speakers: Prof Sifunda HSRC and Dr, Prof Ramneek Ahluwalia, Higher Health

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It has nearly been 12 months since the South African officially announced the decision to avail Covid-19 vaccinations to the citizens of the country at no cost for all citizens as part of curbing the pandemic. A decision was taken to implement vaccinations in the country starting with health care workers who were at the frontline and then rolling out for different age groups starting with older aged adults. But as the roll-out continued throughout 2021 it became evident that despite availability and free access to vaccines across all communities the vaccinations rates were much lower than what was originally anticipated.

This seminar tries to expand on the discourse on the lower than anticipated vaccination rates among South Africans and probably other similar contexts in the Continent. In the first part the seminar will present some findings from the “HSRC Covid 19 One year later survey. This survey gives some insights into vaccination and vaccination behaviour from a much broader perspective that explores much broader determinants of perceptions and intentions towards vaccination. The second part will share some insights on the work of Higher Health South Africa has been doing with Higher Education institutions’ to formulate vaccination dialogues and polices across campuses. The seminar will also provide further engagement around the implementation of vaccine mandates at colleges and universities.