Not getting Covid-19 jabs a lose-lose stance

South Africa’s Covid vaccination programme is losing momentum as the vaccine-hesitant and the outright anti-vaxxers shun the jab centres, convinced, somehow, that the whole thing is just one big con.

Most of them say they don’t trust a hastily developed vaccine (discounting, of course, how many people, countries and companies were involved and how the process was accelerated through technology) or that the vaccination programmes are merely a way of exercising governmental control over the population.

Much of that hesitance and outright denial has been driven by publicity-hungry lobby groups like Pandata, which continue to peddle any manner of conspiracy theories, despite all of the predictions about the pandemic having turned out to be wrong.

They are joined by some medical professionals, like heart surgeon Dr Susan Vosloo, who has gained a wide viral following for her anti-vaxx and “Covid is not serious” position.

In communities where religion is strong, many are following similar trains of thought to that expressed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who believes the “foreign” substances in the vaccines bear the mark of “Satan”.

All of this could have been prevented had the government invested in a proper, thorough communication strategy to allay people’s fears and to vigorously tackle the fake news and disinformation.

That didn’t happen because, under the watch of just-resigned health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, money that should have been spent on such critically important work was allegedly diverted to friends and family in the “Digital Vibes scandal”.

The real tragedy is that the lack of vaccinations will fuel the death toll and possibly also lead to the development of new virus variants, or propel a fourth wave later this year. We all lose in the end.