Months after a measles outbreak was declared in South Africa, some parents remain resistant to getting their children vaccinated. 

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, more than 480 of the 700 cases in the country have been diagnosed in Gauteng. 

Children need two doses of the measles vaccine – at 6 months and 12 months – for full protection. But uptake is low. 

“Immunisation coverage for the second dose of the measles vaccine remains below 75% in both

Johannesburg and Tshwane, which are considered below the level required to prevent outbreaks,” the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) says in a response to Health-e News’ questions. 

It says this is largely due to parents’ or guardians’ personal, cultural, or religious beliefs against vaccination. 

To address this, GDoH is engaging with communities to encourage them to vaccinate their children against the highly contagious disease. Measles can cause serious illness,  including pneumonia, ear infection, blindness, brain damage, and even death.

To vaccinate or not to? 

But the department’s campaign seems to be a hit-and-miss. 

Nomalanga Ndlovu*, a mother to a seven-year-old boy in Soweto, is unaware of both the measles outbreak and the call to vaccinate children between the ages of 6 months and 15 years.  

Ndlovu is hesitant to get her son vaccinated, as she lost trust in the government during the COVID-19 pandemic, which she says was fraught with confusion.

“I am not trusting them (the government) with my child’s life. Firstly, I don’t know what is contained in the vaccine. How will my child react to the vaccine? Do they even care how children react to them? We can’t be vaccinating kids as if we are giving them lollipops.”

“I am so tired, I am exhausted, I feel like the government or business just wants us to be on edge.”

Selinah Moeng from the Westrand is a mother of two children aged five years and 15 months. She says she received a letter from her children’s school explaining the vaccination drive and asking for consent to have the children vaccinated at school.

Although she doesn’t fully understand the disease or the outbreak, the letter gave her enough information about what was required and why vaccination is important.

Moeng, who follows her children’s vaccination calendar, signed the consent form. “Anything to keep them healthy and protected, I’m good with it,” she says.

Social mobilisation 

GDoH has embarked on a social mobilisation drive using various media platforms (online media, newspapers, community media, radio, TV), loud hailing, community forums, leaflets, and posters to raise awareness and encourage parents to vaccinate their children.

“We are also using all our digital media (Facebook, X, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube etc.) platforms to expand our reach.”

The department’s intention is to vaccinate 4 million children between the ages of 6 months and 15 years by 12 September.– Health-e News 

*Not her real name