A FOCUS on mobile and pop-up vaccination sites has become the government's focus as mass centres become ghost towns.
In the Western Cape at least 2.3 million people have been vaccinated, bringing the province's adult vaccinated population rate to 46.5%, the highest in the country.
However, the province’s two mass vaccination sites have seen a drastic decline in people rolling up their sleeves to receive the jab.
The Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC ), when it opened at the end of June, had a target of vaccinating around 750 000 people by December. The facility was contracted by the provincial government along with the City of Cape Town for R15 million over six months.
At peak capacity the site was expected to vaccine 4 000 people a day. But spokesperson for the department of health, Mark van der Heever, said on average the site administers only 1 526 vaccines daily, bringing the total jabs administered by Thursday to 122 312.
The Athlone Stadium site, opened in August, was aimed at targeting residents in surrounding communities who would be able to access it easily as it served as a drive-through facility as well. To date, more than 44 227 vaccines have been administered.
Van der Heever said the Athlone site is expected to close at the end of January while the CTICC will be decommissioned by December 28.
“Based on early projections at the start of the vaccination programme, on assumption that the site will operate at full capacity daily, the site could easily vaccinate the quoted target, but as we have seen across the country there are instances where the uptake is low. That is why we are now focussing on pop-up sites in low-uptake areas,” he said.
“Through our pop-up sites and outreaches we are taking vaccines into communities, which is what communities have asked us to do. This is an additional way for people to access vaccination closer to them as well as the fixed vaccination sites across the province.
“Throughout the vaccine programme it showed that once a new age cohort opened, there was a sudden spike in interest, where large numbers wanted to vaccinate immediately. The mass sites were useful to allow for this mass activity and generated much-needed awareness. Another feature of mass sites, particularly in the metro (with a high population), was that they offer convenient and quick access – in the case of Athlone, even by car.”
When currently walking through the sites, a small number of people can be seen at the facilities, which now have empty chairs and booths as fewer and fewer people visit the sites.
UCT’s Public Health specialist, Landon Myer, said despite the low uptake at some of the centres, the government was obligated to make the resources available.
“The fact that many members of the public have not taken advantage of this infrastructure and that our vaccination levels remain painfully low in many communities is not a good retrospective reason to say we should not have set up these services in the first place,” he said.
“Going forward, the priority is probably shifting to specific local communities and populations. We need to be focusing resources now on increasing vaccination demand, otherwise I fear we will continue to experience waves of the epidemic in the future.
“We need to shift from big centralised testing sites to small local, possibly mobile , vaccination services, to places where vaccines can be administered rapidly to all eligible individuals with minimal queuing or administrative delays.”
According to the national government’s vaccination dashboard, by October 28 at least 22 million vaccines had been administered to 15 million adults in South Afric, representing a vaccination rate of 37%.
During a briefing on Friday, Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla said this brought the country on target to have 40% of the adult population vaccinated by mid-November, a step closer to the 70% goal they hope to reach by the end of December. Government has been pushing to increase vaccination rates ahead of an anticipated fourth wave, expected to hit either in December or January.
On Friday, Minister Phaahla announced that pop-up vaccination sites will be set up near 1 000 voting stations throughout the country tomorrow, particularly in areas where vaccine uptake has been low.
A pilot project is also running as of tomorrow, where around 260 000 people aged 60 and above stand a chance to qualify for a R100 grocery voucher that can be redeemed at Shoprite, Checkers or USave stores. The scheme, valued at R26m, is aimed at encouraging older people to get vaccinated.
The Western Cape government has also been piloting a variety of projects to encourage vaccination.
This week the provincial department of transport and public works, together with Golden Arrow, launched a vaccine site to encourage the bus company’s 2 800 employees to get the jab. On Monday, 200 workers were vaccinated, adding to the 75% who had already been vaccinated.
The province’s Emergency Medical Service’s Vaxi Taxi, launched on September 4, has to date administered 1 512 vaccines.
“The teams have been to Langa, Bonteheuwel, Manenberg, Athlone, Khayelitsha, Tafelsig and Gugulethu. There are plans to reach more areas and communities within the province,” said EMS spokesperson Deanna February.