Survey shows that just over half of adults support compulsory workplace Covid-19 vaccination and vaccine passport, but support differs significantly by vaccination status

Pretoria, Thursday 09 December 2021 – Today the Centre for Social Change, University of Johannesburg (UJ) in collaboration with the Developmental, Ethical and Capable State research division of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) have released a research briefing on the public’s support for compulsory workplace Covid-19 vaccination and having to providing proof of vaccination to enter public places – so-called ‘vaccine passports’.

Key findings include;

54% of South African adults support employers making Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory and 51% support vaccine passports.

However, levels of support for these policies differ considerably by vaccination status and willingness to vaccinate. Among the fully vaccinated support for compulsory workplace vaccination and vaccine passports is 75% and 78%, respectively. However, among those that are unvaccinated and do not want to be vaccinated support falls to under 10% for both measures.

Support for compulsory workplace vaccination is highest amongst Indian adults (65%) followed by Black African Adults (56%), Coloured adults (49%) and lowest among White adults (32%).

Similarly, support for vaccine passports is lower among White adults, 32% compared to 54% for Black African adults, 51% of Indian adults, and 46% among Coloured adults. 

Higher levels of education seem to be associated with greater opposition to compulsory workplace vaccination and vaccine passports. 61% of those with less than matric support compulsory workplace vaccination compared to 39% of those with post-matric education. 60% of those with less than matric support providing proof of vaccination to enter public places compared to 40% of those with post-matric education.

There were negligible differences by gender and small differences by age.

Adults aged 18-24 years had slightly higher support for compulsory workplaces vaccination compared to older age groups. 57% compared to 52% for those aged 55 and above. However, they were slightly less supportive of vaccine passports, 51% compared to 55% for those aged 55 and above.

The survey also gauged relative levels of support for vaccine passports to enter six particular types of public places. Close to half (47%) supported vaccine passports being introduced for sporting events at stadiums. Similar shares (43-45%) supported vaccine passports at schools and universities, and at restaurants, shisa nyamas, coffee shops or night clubs. Slightly lower support was evident for such measures at municipal offices (38%) and places of worship (40%). Vaccination status and level of vaccine hesitancy again matters appreciably for levels of support.

These latest findings come from round 5 of the UJ/HSRC Covid-19 democracy survey, which collected data between 22 October and 17 November 2021.The survey was fully completed by 6,633 participants. All of the data was weighted to match Statistics South Africa data on race, education and age. In addition, in Round 5 we incorporated a further adjustment for vaccination rate by gender to match data provided by the Department of Health for the midpoint of the survey period. These findings can be regarded as broadly indicative of the views of the adult population at large.

For more information contact

Prof. Carin Runciman, Director, Centre for Social Change, University of Johannesburg

Prof. Narnia Bohler-Muller. Divisional Executive: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State division, HSRC

Dr Ben Roberts, Coordinator: Acting Strategic Lead and Research Director: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State division, HSRC

Mr Ngqapheli Mchunu, PhD research trainee: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State division, HSRC.

Text of the report:

UJ-HSRC COVID-19 DEMOCRACY SURVEY

Research briefing

A compelling debate: The public’s views on compulsory Covid-19 vaccination and vaccine passports

Carin Runciman, Narnia Bohler-Muller, Benjamin Roberts, Mark Orkin & Kate Alexander

Summary of key findings

54% of South African adults support employers making Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory and 51% support providing proof of vaccination to enter public places – so-called ‘vaccine passports’.

Levels of support for compulsory workplace vaccination and vaccine passports to enter public spaces differ considerably by vaccination status and willingness to vaccinate. Among the fully vaccinated support for compulsory workplace vaccination and vaccine passports is 75% and 78%, respectively. However, among those that are unvaccinated and do not want to be vaccinated support falls to under 10% for both measures.

Differences in the levels of support for compulsory workplace vaccination and vaccine passports can also be seen by race, education and accommodation type.

Support for compulsory workplace vaccination is highest amongst Indian adults (65%) followed by Black African Adults (56%), Coloured adults (49%) and lowest among White adults (32%).

Similarly, support for vaccine passports is lower among White adults, 32% compared to 54% for Black African adults, 51% of Indian adults, and 46% among Coloured adults.

Higher levels of education seem to be associated with greater opposition to compulsory workplace vaccination and vaccine passports. 61% of those with less than matric support compulsory workplace vaccination compared to 39% of those with post-matric education. 60% of those with less than matric support providing proof of vaccination to enter public places compared to 40% of those with post-matric education.

There were negligible differences by gender and small differences by age.

Adults aged 18-24 years had slightly higher support for compulsory workplaces vaccination compared to older age groups. 57% compared to 52% for those aged 55 and above. However, they were slightly less supportive of vaccine passports, 51% compared to 55% for those aged 55 and above.

The survey also gauged relative levels of support for vaccine passports to enter six particular types of public places. Close to half (47%) supported vaccine passports being introduced for sporting events at stadiums. Similar shares (43-45%) supported vaccine passports at schools and universities, and at restaurants, shisa nyamas, coffee shops or night clubs. Slightly lower support was evident for such measures at municipal offices (38%) and places of worship (40%). Vaccination status and level of vaccine hesitancy again matters appreciably for levels of support.

Introduction

This briefing report presents findings from Round 5 of the University of Johannesburg (UJ)/Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Covid-19 Democracy Survey relating to the public’s views on compulsory workplace vaccination and vaccine passports. The survey was conducted between 22 October 2021 and 17 November 2021. Only adults living in South Africa were surveyed. We asked the following questions;

To what extent do you support or oppose employers making it compulsory for their employees to be vaccinated?

To what extent do you support or oppose having to provide proof of vaccination to access public places, for example places of worship, restaurants or sporting events?

To what extent do you agree or disagree that providing proof of vaccination to enter public places would lead to discrimination?

We also asked people about their support for having to provide proof of vaccination to enter the following specific places: a university, a school, a municipal office, a place of workshop, a sporting event, and a restaurant, shisa nyama, coffee shop or night club.

Survey methodology

The online survey was conducted using the #datafree Moya Messenger App. The Moya Messenger app, which is operated by Datafree, has six million subscribers 800,000 of whom use the app every day. The survey was available in six languages: English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Setswana and Sesotho.

English was the most common language used. The survey was fully completed by 6,358 participants via the Moya messenger app. Most people undertaking the survey did so using a smartphone, access to which has increased rapidly in recent years. However, there is a skew in terms of who has access to smartphones, particularly between older and younger people. In order to address this, we fielded a supplemental telephonic survey, which was undertaken by Ask Afrika.

The telephone survey was conducted between 28 October 2021 and 17 November 2021, and provided an additional 252 responses from those aged 55 and above. Ask Afrika was provided with key sampling criteria regarding this supplemental sample's demographic, social, and geographic characteristics. In addition, to address an under-representation of White adults in the survey, Ask Afrika also fielded our survey to 23 White adults drawn from their online panel.

These cases were integrated with the Moya sample to produce an overall sample size of 6,633 respondents for this round. All of the data was weighted to match Statistics South Africa data on race, education and age, and can be regarded as broadly indicative of the views of the adult population at large. In addition, in Round 5 we incorporated an additional adjustment for vaccination rate by gender to match data provided by the Department of Health for the midpoint of the survey period.¹

The public’s views on compulsory workplace vaccination and vaccine passports

Figure 1 shows the percentage that support or oppose employers introducing compulsory Covid-19 vaccinations. It demonstrates that just over half (54%) of the public support compulsory vaccination at workplaces. 29% oppose and 17% are neutral or uncertain.

Support for having to provide proof of vaccination to enter a public place, marginally lower than the support for compulsory workplace vaccinations, 51% of adults support this. Correspondingly, levels of opposition are also higher with just over a third of adults opposing having to show proof of vaccination to enter a public place, while 13% are neutral or unsure of their view. Taken together, the findings in Figures 1 and 2 demonstrate that just over half of the public are likely to support the introduction of vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.

Views on employer vaccine mandates and vaccine passports by vaccination status and vaccine hesitancy

The survey findings show that there exists a striking difference on the views on employer vaccine mandates and vaccine passports based on whether one has received the Covid-19 vaccination as well as the relative level of vaccination acceptance or hesitancy among the unvaccinated.

 The bar chart in Figure 3 shows firstly that 75% of fully vaccinated adults at the time of surveying were in favour of employers introducing compulsory workplace vaccination, with barely a tenth (11%) opposing this. Similarly, as figure 4 shows, 78% of fully vaccinated adults support vaccine passports to enter public places. Support for such measures declines amongst the unvaccinated.

Among the unvaccinated who were willing to take a vaccine, 69% were in favour of workplace vaccine mandates and 64% vaccine passports with only 12% and 23% opposed respectively (see figure 3 and 4). Support for workplace vaccination mandates drops appreciably to 38% among the unvaccinated who reported that they would probably get the vaccine, with 41% also unsupportive of this proposition. The equivalent figures for vaccine passports are 30% supporting and 50% opposing. This ambivalence disappears when one looks to the hesitant response categories.

Among unvaccinated adults who will probably not get the Covid-19 vaccination, 63% are against the introduction of compulsory workplace vaccination and 65% against vaccine passports. These figures increase respectively to 80% and 84% opposed for those saying they will definitely not get vaccinated (see figure 3 and 4).

Views on compulsory vaccination at workplaces by socio-demographics

Table 1 shows group-based differences in views on employers making Covid-19 vaccination compulsory. It demonstrates that the level of support differs little by age or gender. Support for compulsory workplace vaccinations is highest amongst Indian adults (65%) followed by Black African Adults (56%).

White adults oppose compulsory workplace vaccination more than other groups, 55% oppose compared to only 26% of Black African adults and 22% of Indian adults. This higher level of opposition to compulsory vaccination among White adults reflects the higher rate of vaccine hesitancy amongst this group, which we have documented in our previous findings.² As clearly demonstrated above, those that are unvaccinated and vaccine hesitant have strong opposition to such measures.

Higher levels of education seem to be associated with greater opposition to compulsory workplace vaccination. The highest levels of support for compulsory workplace vaccination is among those with less than matric (61%) compared to 39% of those with post-matric education.

When support for compulsory workplace vaccination is analysed by accommodation type some clear differences emerge. The highest percentage of support for compulsory vaccination at workplaces comes from those living in rural areas (59%), followed by those living in informal settlements (57%) and township and RDP housing (57%). Support is lowest among those living in suburban housing, only 37% of whom support workplace vaccine mandates.

Support for compulsory vaccination by employment status shows some level of variation in the degrees of support. This measure is mostly strongly supported by those employed part time (60%) followed by students (58%) and the unemployed looking for work (56%). Those who are self-employed show the lowest levels of support for compulsory workplace vaccination (44%). However, as demonstrated above, if these groups were further disaggregated by vaccination status we would see vastly different levels of support within each of these sub-groups.

Table 1: Views on compulsory vaccinations at workplaces by socio-demographics, weighted row

 Views on vaccine passports to enter public spaces

As demonstrated above, 51% of the general public support having to provide proof of vaccination to enter public places – what have been termed ‘vaccine passports’. Support for these measures differs little by gender (see table 2). Similarly, there are marginal differences in level of support by age. Vaccine passports are supported by 55% aged 55 and above compared to 51% of 18-24 year olds.

As with compulsory workplaces vaccination, White adults show the lowest level of support for vaccine passports (32%). Black African adults have the highest support for vaccine passports (54%), closely followed by Indian adults (51%). Support for vaccine passports is highest amongst those with less than matric (60%) and is lowest among those with post-matric education (40%), a difference of 20 percentage points.

As we saw above, levels of support for vaccine passports is highest among those employed part time (55%) followed by those employed in casual work (53%) and the unemployed, looking for work (53%). Support for vaccine passports was lowest among the self-employed (43%). Interestingly students are less supportive of vaccine passports than they were of vaccine mandates. Vaccine passports are supported by 47% compared to 58% supporting mandatory workplace vaccination.

Once again, accommodation type appears to be associated with support for vaccine passports. The highest levels of support for vaccine passports are in rural areas (56%), followed by those living in township or RDP houses (54%) and informal settlements (54%). Support is lowest among those living in suburban houses (35%) and those living in flats, apartments and townhouses (40%).

Table 2: Views on providing proof of vaccination to enter public places by socio-demographics, weighted row 

We followed the question on support for vaccine passports with a further question to gauge the relative levels of support for vaccine passports to enter particular public places. We asked participants to indicate which of the following places that they would support having to provide proof of vaccination to enter: a university, a school, a municipal office, a place of workshop, a sporting event, and a restaurant, shisa nyama, coffee shop or night club.

Figure 5 demonstrates the differing levels of support for vaccine passports in different public spaces. Slightly less than half (47%) support this being introduced for sporting events at stadiums. Similar shares (43-45%) support vaccine passports at schools and universities, and at restaurants, shisa nyamas, coffee shops or night clubs. Slightly lower levels of support can be seen for introducing these measures for municipal offices (38%) and places of worship (40%). Just under two-fifths (38%) did not support vaccine passports being introduced at any of these public places.

Table 3: Percentage supporting having to provide proof of vaccination to enter public places by vaccination status and hesitancy among the unvaccinated, cell %

However, views on vaccine passports again varies substantially based on vaccination status and level of vaccine hesitancy among the unvaccinated. (see table 3). General support for vaccination passports to enter public places stands at 78% among the vaccinated and 64% among those who definitely plan to get the Covid-19 vaccine. This support drops off significantly among those who greater levels of vaccination hesitancy, with only 6% of those who will definitely not take the Covid vaccine supporting vaccine passports.

This pattern is present when one examines support for the introduction of a vaccine passport to access specific public places. It ranges from majority support among vaccinated adults (between 61% for municipal offices to 71% for sports events in stadiums), to single-digit support for most of the examples provided among unvaccinated adults who definitely do not intend to get the Covid-19 vaccine. This reaffirms the unequivocal association between vaccination, vaccination hesitancy and views on vaccine mandates and passports in the country.

Conclusion

Across the globe, countries are introducing vaccine passports – fuelling an international debate on compulsory vaccinations. Despite attempts at questioning the constitutionality of a vaccine mandate, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has publicly stated that it could be seen as a reasonable and justifiable limitation on human rights - thus if the state passes a law of general application mandating vaccination, it would pass constitutional muster, placing emphasis on responsibilities towards others in society.

Our findings show that compulsory workplace vaccinations are supported by 54% of adults and that vaccine passports to enter public spaces are supported by 51% of adults. However, support for these measures differs significantly by vaccination status and by levels of vaccine hesitancy. Those who are vaccinated or are willing to vaccinate broadly support these measures but opposition amongst the unvaccinated and especially those unwilling to vaccinate is significant.

In light of the slow uptake in vaccination, combined with the potential new risks of the Omicron variant, these findings underscore the ongoing importance of addressing access to vaccination sites and vaccine hesitancy.

Funding sources

This report is based on research supported by the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS), the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and by the National Research Foundation (NRF). We are grateful to all the funders for providing the resources that made this research possible. The findings expressed in this report represent that of the authors only.

¹ https://sacoronavirus.co.za/latest-vaccine-statistics/

² See Alexander, K., Runciman, C., Roberts, B., Bekker, M. and Bohler-Muller, N. 2021. Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy: Findings From The UJ/HSRC Covid-19 Democracy Survey. Available at http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/1045979/2021-08-18%20UJ- HSRC%20R4%20Report%201%20Vaccine%20acceptance.pdf

Issued by the HSRC, 9 December 2021