Health Department Aims To Take COVID-19 Vaccines To The Public

Health Minister Joe Phaahla on Friday said his department will be working with provinces to test a model of providing transport to move people from high-density population areas to urban areas. 

“We have agreed with provinces that going forward there must be more focus in taking the vaccine to the people rather than getting people to come [to] get the vaccine,” Phaahla said.

The minister said walk-ins are being accepted and that registrations are also being administered at vaccination sites.

Pregnant women in the age group 18 to 34 can also receive the jab.

While the opening up of vaccinations to those under 35 from Friday is a move in the right direction, it might not be the game-changer that we need.

Professor Shabir Madhi, director of the vaccines and infectious diseases analytical research unit at Wits University, says it’s far more important to have vaccines in people’s arms than being unused in the depot.

He said the country needs far more people vaccinated before we’re in the clear.