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Volume 11
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10.3390/vaccines11050960
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Article

COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy among Youths in Soweto, South Africa

by
Jelioth Muthoni
1,*,
Kennedy Otwombe
2,3,
Dineo Thaele
4,
Isaac Choge
4,
Bent Steenberg
4,
Clare Cutland
1,
Shabir A. Madhi
1,4,
Andile Sokani
4 and
Nellie Myburgh
4
1
African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa
2
Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa
3
School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa
4
South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Vaccines 2023, 11(5), 960; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11050960
Submission received: 6 April 2023 / Revised: 24 April 2023 / Accepted: 6 May 2023 / Published: 9 May 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Attitudes and Perspectives toward COVID-19 Vaccines)
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Abstract

In combatting COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), immunization is the most prominent strategy. However, vaccination hesitancy—meaning delays in accepting or denying inoculation regardless of availability—has been identified as an essential threat to global health. Attitudes and perceptions play a pivotal role in vaccine acceptability. Meanwhile, uptake in South Africa’s rollout has been particularly disappointing among youths. For that reason, we explored attitudes and perceptions of COVID-19 in 380 youths in Soweto and Thembelihle, South Africa, between April and June 2022. A staggering hesitancy rate of 79.2 percent was recorded (301/380). We found negative attitudes and confounded perceptions of COVID-19 to be fueled by medical mistrust and misinformation, with online channels as the main sources of non- and counterfactual claims stemming mostly from unregulated social media popular with youths. Understanding its underpinnings—and enhancing means of curbing vaccine hesitancy—will be paramount in boosting uptake in South Africa’s immunization program, particularly among youths.
Keywords: South Africa; COVID-19; public health; Soweto; vaccination hesitancy; youths South Africa; COVID-19; public health; Soweto; vaccination hesitancy; youths

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Muthoni, J.; Otwombe, K.; Thaele, D.; Choge, I.; Steenberg, B.; Cutland, C.; Madhi, S.A.; Sokani, A.; Myburgh, N. COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy among Youths in Soweto, South Africa. Vaccines 2023, 11, 960. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11050960

AMA Style

Muthoni J, Otwombe K, Thaele D, Choge I, Steenberg B, Cutland C, Madhi SA, Sokani A, Myburgh N. COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy among Youths in Soweto, South Africa. Vaccines. 2023; 11(5):960. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11050960

Chicago/Turabian Style

Muthoni, Jelioth, Kennedy Otwombe, Dineo Thaele, Isaac Choge, Bent Steenberg, Clare Cutland, Shabir A. Madhi, Andile Sokani, and Nellie Myburgh. 2023. "COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy among Youths in Soweto, South Africa" Vaccines 11, no. 5: 960. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11050960

APA Style

Muthoni, J., Otwombe, K., Thaele, D., Choge, I., Steenberg, B., Cutland, C., Madhi, S. A., Sokani, A., & Myburgh, N. (2023). COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy among Youths in Soweto, South Africa. Vaccines, 11(5), 960. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11050960

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