Now that South Africa’s vaccination campaign is well underway, with phase 3 opening to everyone over the age of 18, 1000 survey respondents were asked their opinions, beliefs and concerns about getting vaccinated.

Gig technology company, M4Jam followed up on its 2020 survey – which was completed before vaccinations began – to compare responses. Responses were overwhelmingly more positive than they were a year ago, indicating that the government’s rollout and communication strategy is finally paying dividends.

Asked to locate the country’s progress in the fight against Covid-19, 46% of respondents said the worst is yet to come. While this seems a high figure, in 2020 84% of respondents felt that way. 36% said they believe the worst is behind us, compared with just 12% last year. 18% were not sure.

Weighing up the effectiveness of treatments and drugs for people with Covid-19, 27% feel treatment is a lot better (9% in 2020), 46% said treatment is a little better (29% in 2020) and only 9% believe treatment of the virus is worse than it was (39% in 2020).

In 2020 just 17% of respondents believed hospitals in their area could cope with the number of people seeking treatment. This year, 56% of respondents were confident their community facilities could handle the patient load.

Download the full report HERE