The spread of the covid-19 pandemic is accompanied, like all major events, by a plethora of conspiratorial theses. Thus, according to a survey carried out by the firm Smart Phorce in partnership with Financial Afrik, 15% of Africans believe that vaccines were invented by Westerners to harm them. In Cameroon, the proportion rises to 44%. “Overall, conspiracy theory comes third in the grounds for refusal, behind fear of side effects (20%) and mistrust of vaccines developed too quickly (16%)”, says Jean-Paul Melaga , CEO of Smart Phorce, a firm specializing in opinion polls and the qualitative and quantitative analysis of public opinion.
Carried out in urban areas, from May 26 to 27 in 6 countries of the continent (Algeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon), the study estimates that only 15% of those interviewed have been vaccinated. Ghana and Morocco are in the lead with 27 and 26% of the vaccinated. Conversely, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire account for 2% of people vaccinated for the first and 9% for the second. In addition, 51% of respondents would not be vaccinated if the vaccine was available. Morocco (70%) and Nigeria (54%) are the countries where the most people are ready to be vaccinated. Unlike Cameroon and Algeria, where 81% and 65% respectively do not want the vaccine. If the fear of side effects comes at the top of the reasons for refusal, it goes without saying that 9% of respondents rather trust grandmother’s recipes.
According to the results obtained by Smart Phorce, women are slightly more likely to be vaccinated at a rate of 17% against 14% for men. Algeria is the only country where there are more men vaccinated than women. In Côte d’Ivoire, on the other hand, there are three times more women vaccinated than men. Overall, three times as many adults are vaccinated as young people. Morocco stands out with 50% of adults vaccinated but only 1% of young people.
The survey was carried out on batches of 300 people per country, with an equal share (50% / 50%) of men and women. In addition, 50% of the sample is made up of young people under 35 and 50% of adults (36 and over). The collection medium is the smartphone (Android, IOS).
