Dr Brendan Maughan-Brown said that being in close proximity to those who were vaccinated meant people were more likely to get vaccinated.Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency(ANA)
Cape Town - A recent Covid-19 vaccine survey (CVacs) conducted by the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (Saldru) has shown that vaccine mandates work.
The survey was conducted by UCT and led by Drs Brendan Maughan-Brown and Katherine Eyal. It also showed that there was still a high rate of vaccine hesitancy.
Following-up on a survey conducted in December 2021, 1 772 people were re-interviewed for a second time, with only 386 who reported being vaccinated, compared to 1 386 still unvaccinated.
According to Dr Maughan-Brown, the majority do not intend to get vaccinated. When asked about their intentions to vaccinate, 36% said “definitely not” and 24% said “only if required”. Only 18% in Survey 2 intend to get vaccinated “as soon as possible”.
While figures still show there is a vaccine hesitancy, there are encouraging signs as 1 in 4 of the “definitely not” group from the first survey have become more willing to vaccinate.
Maughan-Brown said that being in close proximity to those who were vaccinated meant people were more likely to get vaccinated.
“Individuals who lived with a vaccinated person, and those who believed that the vaccine helped prevent death, were more likely to vaccinate,” he said.
Dr Katherine Eyal, who also led the study, said that “access and incentives are still important for vaccination”.
Nearly 60% stated a closer vaccination site, and nearly 50% stated after work or on weekends availability, as one of the reasons for getting vaccinated.
The CVacs team were also able to investigate the likelihood of mandates succeeding in increasing vaccination rates. Eyal said individuals got vaccinated to keep their jobs and when looking for employment.
The statistics showed that 1 in 5 people got vaccinated for work-related mandates and 1 in 10 got vaccinated for other mandates.
matthew.petersen@inl.co.za