EDITORIAL | Rewards, not penalties, will be more effective for vaccine drive

Tertiary institutions are mulling over how to deal with the rules around vaccinations for students. Sunday Times Daily reported last week that some are considering making unvaccinated students take regular Covid-19 tests. The hope is that the thought of having to go for a Covid-19 test every 72 hours to prove you are not sick will be enough motivation to rather get vaccinated. Some universities, colleges and technikons are considering rewarding the vaccinated, allowing them more privileges, such as participating in sports and cultural events. This is a much more constructive way of dealing with a polarising issue where different sets of rights come into play, including the rights to freedom of choice and the right to be protected from spread of disease.

Sports, arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa made all the right noises last week when he announced the “Return to play — It’s in your hands” campaign to encourage vaccinations instead of enforcing a culture of jabbing. SA Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan made it clear an unvaccinated fan won’t be welcome at a stadium, adding that Safa was looking at the possibility of giving away 50% of tickets to a Bafana Bafana match to vaccinated fans. This approach should be welcomed with open arms, though cynics may argue that Bafana has been battling to fill up stadiums. Rugby writer Liam del Carme pointed out in his Sunday Times Daily column that the SA Rugby Union has been ominously quiet on the exact same matter. It needs to step up. 

The more you try to explain to anti-vax people, the more convinced they become about their position.

—  Prof Salim Abdool Karim

Epidemiologist Prof Salim Abdool Karim, who is a member of the African Task Force for Coronavirus, recently explained the social psychology behind a successful vaccination campaign. He used the analogy of “early adopters”, such as people who are first in line to try new technology, saying everything starts with that group, which makes up about 20 to 30% of the population. The second group, about 50% of the population, is not hesitant or anti-vax, “they are just not early adopters”. For that group to sign up, it needs to be easy for them to get vaccinated. “They will not get vaccinated for a minor obstacle such as having to take a 20-minute bus ride. You get rid of that problem by creating access and making the vaccine available.” The US solved that problem by making the vaccine available at every pharmacy.

SA is not there yet, but our availability levels for vaccines have shot up in the second half of the year, an encouraging sign. Abdool Karim says as the group of vaccinated people grows, they start acting as “investors” for the vaccine, reaching the third group of people who are “vaccine hesitant”. “They need to talk to someone who is vaccinated who can tell them it was perfectly safe. They need personal testimony to convince them.”

The last group is the anti-vaxxers, whom, according to Abdool Karim, do not respond well to arguments on the matter. “The more you try to explain to anti-vax people, the more convinced they become about their position.”

Looking back to the polio vaccination campaign, a key ingredient to its success was the decision to make the jab compulsory in schools. But only when vaccinators started travelling to rural communities and nurses were sent out on specific campaign days to inoculate people was polio finally eradicated.

There are key lessons here for SA. We need the different sectors of society to come on board and each do its part. Tertiary institutions may ultimately decide to make vaccination compulsory, but our over-18s campaign is still in its early days. Instead of a penalising approach, students should be rewarded for getting jabbed. And if all our major sporting organisations can get on board to motivate people to vaccinate, it may help reach the second group in Abdool Karim’s model, taking us to the final push of getting diehards to see the life-saving value of a vaccination.​