Experts get needled

CONCERN: OVER 3.5 MILLION OVER-60S HAVE NOT BEEN INOCULATED

Health experts offer reasons for target age group accepting or denying the vaccine.

LIt is hard to assess whether the low turnout is [an issue of] access or hesitancy.

Glenda Gray President SA Medical Research Council

ack of transport to vaccination sites, insufficient education on vaccines and vaccine hesitancy could be contributing to the low rate of over 60s receiving the jab, with less than two million vaccinated in the second phase, experts said.

The national health department announced last week that it was concerned by the low turnout of those aged above 60 for the Covid-19 jab, with less than two million having received the vaccine, out of the targeted 5.5 million people.

Carol Stanton, 64, said she was not interested in receiving the vaccine since she does not even get the annual flu injection. This was because she was scared of needles, she told The Citizen.

“The flu injection, that you can take every winter, I don’t take it. Why must I take this injection if I don’t take the flu injection? I am afraid of the needles. I don’t take injections at all. Maybe I would take the vaccine if it came in a pill.

“I am very careful. I don’t go to the shops if its not necessary. I get all my stuff and come back then I stay at my home, sanitise and wash my hands and keep the house clean. I am not looking for the virus,” she said.

For Mpho Kgosana, a 70-yearold grandmother who lives alone in Hammanskraal, she has no transport to the vaccination site which is less than 10 kilometres away.

She successfully registered and received a text, but was not in good health to catch a taxi to the vaccination site.

“I have issues with my legs and I can’t even lift my leg high enough to climb into a taxi. I registered for the vaccine and received a confirmation SMS. I also received another SMS saying I can just go there any time. But no one is able to take me,” she said.

Research by the Human Sciences Research Council has found a link between education, race, age and political affiliation when it comes to reasons for accepting or denying the vaccine.

Head of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine study and president of the South African Medical Research Council Professor Glenda Gray suggests that government finds innovative ways to target those age groups.

“They should vaccinate in mobile units, register and vaccinate in pension [grant] queues and set up sites in communities that make it easy to access vaccines.

“They need to address vaccine hesitancy and access to registration centres.”

“Until there is adequate access, it is hard to assess whether it is [an issue of] access or hesitancy. There needs to be education campaigns as well as a delicate balance between demand and supply issues,” she said.

Vaccine hesitancy, according to the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation is a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccine services”.

While vaccine hesitancy does not seem to be a major problem in South Africa when compared to issues of procurement and distribution, it is still an obstacle to overcome, said Helen Suzman Foundation legal researcher Sophie Smit.

It is not clear the percentage of those over 60s not vaccinated can be attributed to hesitancy or due to lack of access to registration, she said.

“With 67% of South Africans being willing to take the jab, vaccine hesitancy does not seem to threaten herd immunity at this point.” –