To Vaccinate Or Not: What Drives Parents’ Choices

Vaccines have been hailed as one of the greatest public health interventions in history. It’s estimated that child deaths dropped by more than 50% since the introduction of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation 50 years ago. Parents are encouraged to vaccinate their children to ensure their safety.

But in recent years, there’s been a decrease in childhood immunisation rates. This is particularly concerning because gaps in immunisation can lead to the outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases like the measles outbreak that the country is currently facing. It’s crucial for parents to vaccinate their children to prevent such outbreaks. 

Measles is a highly infectious disease that spreads through the air from one person to the next, causing serious illness and even death. Young children are particularly vulnerable. Two doses of the vaccine are needed to protect from infection. But immunisation rates in South Africa are  83.3% for the first dose and 84.9% for the second dose. These are below the national target of 95% coverage for both doses. 

To help combat these issues, health authorities continue to advocate for parents to vaccinate their children on schedule.

The lag in immunisation has been attributed to several factors, including disruptions caused by COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine hesitancy. Our network of community journalists spoke to parents across the country to get a better understanding of their attitudes toward vaccination. 

Limpopo

Moipone Motlana* (25) of Shongoane village outside Lephalale in Limpopo is a mother of two girls aged five and three. 

“During my first pregnancy, I was fortunate enough to attend an antenatal clinic regularly. Nurses at the clinic and hospital taught us regularly about the importance of vaccines to prevent diseases such as polio and others,” she says.

“Of course, there will always be stories being shared that vaccines are dangerous, or make your children sterile so they won’t have their own children as adults. I heard those stories from peers, but I make sure I ask people with better knowledge, as well as my grandmother, for clarity. I also read and listen to health experts on various credible media platforms. I wish I could be around for years to see each of my children walk this vaccine route until they are aged 12,” Motlana says.

Nhlamula  Lebese* (19) of Mankweng is a first-time mother whose son is a year old.

“I take him to the vaccine stages even though I have doubts. There are talks about vaccines infecting babies with HIV and diseases such as coronavirus, and it worries me. But I continue to allow my child to get all those polio, measles and other vaccines, just in case,” says Lebese.

According to a professional nurse, Jemina Tom*, at a public health clinic in Marble Hall, people have different reasons for their hesitancy or disengagement from vaccination.

She says some people advance religious reasons while others raise safety concerns, saying their children fall ill after being vaccinated.

“Others lack trust in the public health facilities, or have desires for more information. Some have misconceptions that vaccines cause diseases such as measles. Side effects or fear of adverse effects are also reasons often given for not bringing children for immunisation. But mainly, it is a lack of information regarding immunisation that makes them object or hesitate to take their children for vaccination.

“And it is mainly younger mothers who doubt or simply boycott immunisation for their children because of a lack of information or having misinformation they hear or read on some social media,” Tom explains.  

North West 

In the North West, a mother tells Health-e News that despite her best intentions, she was unable to get her child vaccinated due to stockouts. 

“I recall visiting the clinic three times, yet my child remained unvaccinated. From the time she was born, she has not received any vaccinations because whenever I visited the clinic, they would tell us they were out of stock and we needed to call. My frustration lies in the fact that this little girl will now lack any protection, without any vaccination whatsoever,” says Matlhogonolo Sereko, a mother of a 2-year-old daughter. 

Eastern Cape 

Nosandile Lamani (43) , a hawker from the rural Rasmeni village in the Eastern Cape town of Engcobo near Mthatha is taking care of her two orphaned grandchildren aged nine and six years.

Lamani is pro-vaccination and fully aware of the importance of immunisation, but finds it difficult to access healthcare services. Her nearest health facility, All Saints Hospital, is 10 kilometres away.    

“I often have to rely on relatives to take my grandchildren for vaccinations as I have to be at my stall in town. But on top of that, we have to spend a fortune on transport money when visiting our local healthcare facility. And then there are the long lines,” says Lamani. 

“Often we have to wake up in the early hours of the morning and only return home in the afternoon. Plus, there are no guarantees that you will be attended because at times the lines are so long that nurses turn us away and order us to come the next day. So, as much as we want to vaccinate our children, we as rural dwellers are faced with a number of challenges unlike people in urban settings.”      

Northern Cape 

Zintle Sandi’s eight-week-old baby boy is a healthy 5kg,  and will be receiving his second immunisation sometime in September. 

“I don’t want to take any chances,” she says. “The shots will protect my baby and will no doubt strengthen his immune system and prevent him from easily falling ill.”

Out on the stoep on a balmy mid-morning in Colesberg, Northern Cape, Sandi’s older cousin agrees with her. “My first child, who’s now in her teens, underwent the entire regimen and I intend to do the same with my 7-year-old,” says Thobela Martiens*. For her, vaccines are just “another part of life.”

“When we were growing up, everybody got shots. People of my generation still carry the scarring that the immunisation injection left on the upper arm, and, with us, the shots were given not just in clinics but sometimes at school,” the 42-year-old says.

Thirty-seven-year-old Nelisiwe Gayiya echoes similar sentiments. She says she ensures to set a reminder on her phone when her 3-year-old daughter’s appointment is due. “My daughter has a very sweet tooth,” she continues, “and I think that even outside of the vaccines, the deworming they give her keeps her stomach healthy.” — Health-e News

*Not their real names