The department of health says one million people between the ages of 35 and 49 have registered on the COVID-19 registration website within 24 hours of the site opening. The EVDS opened on Thursday for this age group to register to get vaccinated against the virus.
Queues reminiscent of the 1994 elections snaked from vaccination sites as people born between 1972 and 1986 waited to get their first shot. A million of Generation X and Millennials registered within 24 hours and hundreds flocked to vaccination sites to get their first jab of the Pfizer-vaccine.
Sitting in the winter sun reading, listening to music on ear phones or chatting – all waited patiently.
Kwarra Kekana, spokesperson for the MEC of Health in Gauteng, says people born from 1972 to 1986 can go to any public vaccination site in the province to get vaccinated, without first registering on the website.
“People who are 35 to 49 years old can now get their COVID-19 vaccine at their nearest vaccination site in Gauteng. All public vaccination sites in Gauteng accept walk-ins, whether people are registered on VDS or not. People who are older can visit their vaccination site. They will be registered and vaccinated. No one is to be turned away at public facilities in Gauteng.”
Tshwane extends capacity
The City of Tshwane has opened more vaccination sites to accommodate the flood or people in this age group eager to get vaccinated.
Spokesperson for the City of Tshwane, Selby Bokaba, says: “Tshwane has added three more vaccination sites to the existing ones in an effort to accommodate the newly added age groups to the accelerated mass vaccination program. Registration is open to the 35 to 49 age cohort. The last addition brings the total number of vaccination sites from 26 to 29. Two of the new sites are located in Region 7 and the third one in Region 6. These additional sites will give impetuous to the City’s drive to contain the spread of this dreadful pandemic.”
Although many people believe vaccination and herd immunity is the fastest way to get back to a semblance of life before COVID-19, not everyone is storming to vaccination sites to get vaccinated.
To mitigate this, government has called on the younger more tech savvy generations to help older people, register and get vaccinated as well.
