Vaccine refusal isn’t personal, it affects others

While people around the world line up for vaccination against COVID-19, only 53% of South Africans plan to get vaccinated when it becomes available to them. This is according to a recent Ipsos pollconducted in partnership with the World Economic Forum.

Vaccine hesitancy within and without the community poses a real threat to being able to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

“This would indeed be a major headache for planners if the aim is to reach 67% of the adult population in order to achieve herd immunity,” Professor Barry Schoub, the chairperson of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 vaccines told the SA Jewish Report this week.

The reality is that we need 40 million adult South Africans to be vaccinated so that herd immunity can kick in and put an end to the cycle of pain and suffering. However, uncertainty, fear, and dread surround immunisation against COVID-19 in spite of a considerable amount of research that reinforces the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines.

“There is no doubt in my mind that I would take the vaccine. Not tomorrow. Today,” said Johannesburg doctor Anton Meyberg, who is working at the coalface of the illness.

“The sooner the better. It’s considered pikuach nefesh [preservation of human life] at the highest levels to get vaccinated to protect ourselves and our fellow man,” he said this week amidst growing vaccine hesitancy.

While the country scrambles to secure enough doses to obtain herd immunity – a situation in which most of a population is immune to an infectious disease, giving indirect protection to those who aren’t immune – the question is whether all this effort and money amounts to nought when scores of people are reluctant to get the vaccine.

Johannesburg pulmonologist Carron Zinman told the SA Jewish Report she felt as if COVID-19 was winning the war. “Sadly, people haven’t modified their behaviour enough to control this deadly disease, and no one wants to stay locked away for the foreseeable future. Vaccination is our only hope of halting COVID-19 in its tracks.”

She said that by the time the vaccine is accessible in South Africa, it will have proven its safety and efficacy. “It makes no sense whatsoever for anyone to refuse something that could save your [or a loved one’s] life.”

Experts insist that nothing has more effectively contributed to the health of humankind than the provision of clean water and administration of vaccines.

The enormous pressure on vaccine manufacturers to produce an effective and safe vaccine as soon as possible is widely documented in the light of a devastating pandemic which has claimed more than two million lives.

In less than a year, manufacturers have been able to produce about 10 different vaccines which are in widespread use throughout the world. This contrasts with the 10 to 20 years it took to produce the vaccines of yesteryear, Schoub said.

“Public opinion on COVID-19 vaccines has ranged from the eager ‘why the delay?’ to the hesitant ‘I’m unsure about that vaccine’, to the militant ‘anti-vaxers’ with their science-fiction conspiracies,” he said.

In tackling the “vaccine refusal problem”, it’s important to distinguish vaccine hesitancy from anti-vaxers, he said.

The breakneck speed at which vaccines have been developed and put into use, as well as the uniqueness of the platforms which have been used to construct these vaccines – some completely new to humans – “has raised legitimate concerns in the minds of many anxious citizens”, said Schoub.

Much of the vaccine hesitancy centres on a fear of side effects, especially unknown, long-term side effects. There is also uncertainty about whether the vaccine will be successful against mutations of the virus, and lack of understanding about the differences between the various vaccines.

Anti-vaxers, Schoub said, “are a different breed”.

“Fortunately, they are a relatively small minority in this country, but they are, at the same time, a rather vocal minority, who exploit social media to spread wild and wonderful tales.”

Some of these tales include that COVID-19 is the result of 5G radiation and COVID-19 vaccines contain embedded microchips from Microsoft’s Bill Gates; or that the vaccine can alter our DNA.

“These folk will obstinately cling to these tales and refuse to listen to reason, preferring the comfort of conspiracies,” said Schoub.

It also doesn’t help when people in prominent positions voice their fears based on unscientific, unproven misinformation.

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng sparked outrage last month with some of his bizarre comments about the “devil vaccine”, and a handful of public servants have also voiced seemingly illogical concerns.

Realising the importance and urgency of herd immunity, certain politicians including Julius Malema and Blade Nzimande have recently encouraged people to listen to science and get the jab.

Schoub said vaccine-hesitant people “do have very legitimate and understandable concerns” about the new COVID-19 vaccines.

“Sometimes their opinions are coloured by anti-vaxer stories; sometimes it’s misinformation; but usually it’s [as a result of] a lack of correct, scientifically validated information. Often, hesitancy is merely reluctance to be a guinea pig,” he said.

“Often, just seeing their friends, neighbours, or relatives being vaccinated, and being reassured that they are hale and hearty after the vaccination while boasting of now being immune to infection is enough to dissolve their hesitancy,” he said.

Careful and non-condescending messaging is important, he said. “For example, the fact that the mRNA vaccine contains absolutely no DNA and cannot alter one’s DNA, and is, furthermore, very rapidly disposed of in the body after its work of stimulating immunity is done.”

Experts agree that it’s important to educate the public about the rigour with which vaccines are monitored for safety and efficacy, from the clinical-trial stage through to international and national licensure, all of which needs to be publicised.

An often-heard objection to the COVID-19 vaccine is the mantra of human or individual rights. “I will choose what’s done to my body”, people say. The choice, however, said Schoub, isn’t between getting vaccinated or not getting vaccinated. The choice is between the perceived risk of getting vaccinated against the real risk of getting the disease.

“There’s no neutral position. Moreover, with infectious diseases, the choice to refuse a vaccine isn’t a choice for the individual alone, it’s also a choice affecting others.”