Vaccinate yourself against fake news

 

South Africa, like countries across the globe have embarked on an aggressive vaccine program to slow down the spread of the disease. According to World Data:

24.2% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

3.22 billion doses have been administered globally, and 35.77 million are now administered each day.

Only 1% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose.

In South Africa, as at 04 July 2021, we have:

  • Given 3.31m doses.
  • Fully vaccinated 480k
  • Fully vaccinated 0.8% of our total population.

The lag in our vaccination rollout program has had an immense pressure on the stability of the rand. As of 1 July, the eligibility criteria for the vaccine was extended to those over the age of 50. Should you meet this criteria, we strongly encourage you to enroll on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) on http://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za/.

While most of us cannot wait to finally receive our vaccine and return to some kind of normality, there are countless conspiracy theories circulating on social media. In the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where truth and falsehoods appear side by side and where everyone’s opinion is published online, it can be hard to know what’s really going on.

Here are some of the most common myths around the Coronavirus and vaccines in general.

COVID MYTHS VACCINE MYTHS
  • Covid is affected by temperature – the climate, your own temperature after a hot bath, the temperature of things you eat or drink. FALSE
  • Bathing in chlorine or rinsing your nose with salt or gargling with bleach can kill Covid. FALSE
  • Covid is just the flu. FALSE
  • Children cannot get Covid. FALSE
  • If you are young and healthy, Covid cannot harm you. FALSE
  • Covid is a government plot to restrict our freedoms. FALSE
  • You won’t get Covid unless you are exposed for longer than 10 minutes. FALSE
  • Drinking a lot of alcohol with stop you from getting Covid. FALSE
  • Vaccines can cause autism/cancer/allergies. FALSE
  • Vaccines alter your DNA. FALSE
  • Vaccines can make you infertile. FALSE
  • Vaccines contain dangerous substances such as mercury. FALSE
  • The Covid vaccine is actually a microchip. FALSE
  • Vaccines can cause you to get sick instead of preventing sickness. FALSE

 

Since the flu season and COVID-19 are now overlapping, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases Africa has recommended that everyone, in particular those over the age of 65, receive a flu vaccination this year.

Clicks, Dis-Chem, and Shoprite are now offering flu vaccines for the 2021 winter season.

Should you have any concerns or queries about what your plan includes, please reach out to your NMG Healthcare Consultant.

The information in this communication is for information purposes and is not intended to be detailed advice described in the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. The fund, administrator and trustees cannot be held liable for damage or loss suffered as a result of any action that you take based on the contents of this communication.

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