**6. COVID-19 misinformation, vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine**

The emergence of COVID-19 myths and the talk around the production and availability of vaccines have in some ways led to the theory of vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine globally, with South Africa also having its own share of debates and decisions. Vaccine hesitancy is the reluctance or hesitance to accept to be vaccinated or an individual's refusal to use the vaccination services [37]. There has always been the issue of vaccine hesitancy throughout medical history and various factors such as lack of confidence in the vaccine, complacency, the convenience of accepting and taking

#### *People's Perspectives on Covid 19, Fake News and the Vaccination Drive in South Africa DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108933*

the available vaccine have always influenced people's decision [35, 37]. Apart from the challenges around vaccine hesitancy, there was also the issue of anti-vaccine, which came up strongly during the peak of the spread of COVID-19 and the global drive towards vaccination. South African media generally and most importantly the various social media outlets such Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube among other were filled with related print and audio-visual information on COVID-19 [38].

As noted by MacDonald [37] and Shen and Dubey [39], there is a difference between being vaccine-hesitant and anti-vaccine. These scholars noted that with vaccine hesitancy, there is still a possibility that people in such category could possibly or eventually proceed to use or accept a specific vaccine. They added that with anti-vaccination, people in such group or with such belief are firmly against considering or accepting the benefits of or taking the developed vaccine. Additionally, it has been noted that the anti-vaccine advocates will also campaign against and seek public support against the use of vaccines [39]. The likely dangers associated with the various myths that emerged as well as personal individual decisions have all played some parts to influence people's decision to accept and take the vaccine, and to either belong to the vaccine hesitancy group or anti-vaccine group [20].

There are also concerns around the possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, while citizens around the world also have a kind of mistrust against their governments and the vaccination drive. In South Africa, just like in some other parts of the world, it turned out to be very interesting when some health workers also became vaccine-hesitant and this also made some citizens to become cautious about taking the vaccine. People also began to question the decision of this group of health workers as they are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection considering their exposure to potential carriers of the virus [40]. It therefore became very important for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and governments of nations around the world to speedily dispel the myths and misinformation around the COVID-19 vaccine and educate people on the need to be vaccinated and thus reduce the spread of the virus. For instance, the South African government through the President's 'Family Meeting' speeches and other Ministerial briefings made sure that citizens were well informed about the available vaccines as well as their safety and effectiveness so that people are able to make informed choices on whether or not to take the vaccine.
