Health Minister Doctor Joe Phaahla has announced that government is ready to start the vaccination of young people aged between 12 and 17 from October 20.
Minister of Health has announced that govt is ready to vaccinate children from 12 yrs to 17 yrs. The vaccination fir this cohort will be opened on 20 October. The vaccine MAC recommended that children should be give 1 dose of Pfizer vaccine #VaccineRollOutSA
— Department of Health (@HealthZA) October 15, 2021
He says this follows a recommendation from the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccination.
Health MECs and the Cabinet also support the commendation following their Statutory National Health Council meeting.
Children 12yrs to 17yrs will be vaccinated through the Electronic Vaccination Data System #EVDS . They can go to any private and public vaccination site nearest to them #COVID19 #VaccineRollOutSA
— Department of Health (@HealthZA) October 15, 2021
Phaahla says between now and the beginning of the vaccination of this group, government will embark on necessary logistical preparations.
“We believe that this will come in handy as schools start their examinations. Well, some of them are already advanced towards concluding their academic year and are starting to prepare for the next academic year of 2022. The Pfizer vaccine which has been approved by SAHPRA for this age group will be used for the purpose of the vaccination of young people, 12 to 17. The Ministerial Advisory Committee advised that for now, we should only give one dose of Pfizer.”
In the video below, Dr Phaahla gives further details:
