According to health minister Joe Phaahla, the vaccination rate has stalled. This comes in the wake of 10 000 new COVID cases reported on Wednesday. The test positivity rate has reportedly increased by 25.3%, up from 23% from the day before.
South Africans have become complacent, with many believing that COVID-19 is no longer a threat, says the government’s “social listening” team. But it’s not only stubbornness and invincibility that are preventing Mzanzi from getting the jab. It’s sexual impotence, too.
In these “social listening” workshops (over 100 of them), concerns over sexual impotence and miscarriages came up. But the government has said that many people could be “convinced of the benefits of vaccination,” as per Business Insider.
In furthering its efforts to promote vaccination is a public service announcement by CovidComms SA, “a group of communicators who work alongside government to spread accurate and helpful information on the pandemic”.
The announcement comes in the form of a video showcasing a cartoon virus eating a row of eggplants. It’s captioned: “MEN! Ever wondered if the Vaccine will affect your… Ghmm Ghmm… Well, check out our PSA to see the real issue…PS: The real issue is COVID. Just so you know…”
For those who don’t know, the eggplant emoji is often used to represent a penis.
According to the video, this is what COVID does to men’s sexual health:
- “COVID in men affects fertility.”
- “COVID affects sperm count, sperm motility, causes DNA fragmentation in sperm.”
The video ends off by stating that “the vaccine can’t cause infertility. But COVID can,” along with a swinging eggplant graphic.
Here’s the video:
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Picture: Reddit / screenshot
