Cape Town - With Covid fatigue and vaccine apathy evident, the provincial Health Department is on the cusp of reaching 4 million vaccine doses administered and is trying to bridge the gap in vaccine accessibility ahead of the festive season and expected fourth wave of Covid-19.
The Health Department has opened a number of pop-up and in-residential vaccination sites across the province.
Provincial Health Department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said the sites are the latest adjustment with the previous adaptation of setting up such sites at shopping centres, grocery stores and at Sassa paypoints.
“The message is clear – vaccines are widely available, but we need every eligible member of the community to take up the opportunity. Our data has shown that those over the age of 50 and those with comorbidities are at higher risk of contracting severe illness, being hospitalised and dying if unvaccinated,” said Van der Heever.
Since the start of the vaccine rollout, the province has administered 3 910 986 vaccines with 2 023 748 people (excluding the 12-17 years) fully vaccinated.
This has resulted in:
- 500 701 people over the age of 60 (69.24% of the total population in this age group), with 462 682 fully vaccinated;
- 406 782 aged 50-59 have been vaccinated (59.46% of the age population), of this 366 485 being fully vaccinated;
- 766 436 people aged 35 – 49 (50.7%) have been vaccinated and 651 547 fully vaccinated;
- 739 687 or 35.95% of the total number of 18-34 years have received at least their first dose and 542 855 are fully vaccinated.
In addition, 46 051 children aged 12-17 have received their one-dose vaccine.
Van der Heever said the pop-up sites are in addition to the weekly vaccination sites and information on where sites can be found is uploaded on the department’s social media platforms daily, shared among community groups and communicated through community media channels.
“No person should be left behind in the vaccination programme because of where they live, and our pop-up site approach is another innovation that demonstrates our commitment to this fundamental principle,” said Premier Alan Winde.