Fake news and fallacies: Exploring vaccine hesitancy in South Africa

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 COVI...

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Main Authors: Avania Bangalee, Varsha Bangalee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2021-10-01
Series:South African Family Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5345
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author Avania Bangalee
Varsha Bangalee
author_facet Avania Bangalee
Varsha Bangalee
author_sort Avania Bangalee
collection DOAJ
description 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.
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spelling doaj-art-4ecb08a956164ec8aee26238deef6f7d2025-08-20T03:47:09ZengAOSISSouth African Family Practice2078-61902078-62042021-10-01631e1e310.4102/safp.v63i1.53454170Fake news and fallacies: Exploring vaccine hesitancy in South AfricaAvania Bangalee0Varsha Bangalee1Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Prinshof Campus, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa; and, National Health Laboratory Services, JohannesburgDiscipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, DurbanHistorically, 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.https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5345vaccine hesitancyvaccinespublic healthcovid-19vaccine acceptanceimmunisationsouth africa
spellingShingle Avania Bangalee
Varsha Bangalee
Fake news and fallacies: Exploring vaccine hesitancy in South Africa
South African Family Practice
vaccine hesitancy
vaccines
public health
covid-19
vaccine acceptance
immunisation
south africa
title Fake news and fallacies: Exploring vaccine hesitancy in South Africa
title_full Fake news and fallacies: Exploring vaccine hesitancy in South Africa
title_fullStr Fake news and fallacies: Exploring vaccine hesitancy in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Fake news and fallacies: Exploring vaccine hesitancy in South Africa
title_short Fake news and fallacies: Exploring vaccine hesitancy in South Africa
title_sort fake news and fallacies exploring vaccine hesitancy in south africa
topic vaccine hesitancy
vaccines
public health
covid-19
vaccine acceptance
immunisation
south africa
url https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5345
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