The City of Cape Town’s Covid-19 vaccination-vans have, since their launch, already administered nearly 1,800 doses of vaccine.

The vans were rolled out as part of an initiative to take Covid-19 vaccinations to areas where access to vaccination sites is limited, or where vaccine registration is low.

Last week, a total of 1 785 vaccinations were administered at these mobile sites, including 110 at the City’s Paint City Safe Space in Bellville.

In addition, the recently opened Langa vaccination site administered 955 vaccinations in its first few weeks of operation.

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Zahid Badroodien says the latest vaccination data indicates that just over 1 million people have registered in the Cape Town metropole.

He says while most of the eight health sub-districts in the city have registrations in excess of 100 000, the Klipfontein, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha sub-districts have been identified as areas that require more intervention.

It is hoped that the opening of the Athlone mass vaccination centre will go some way to improving the uptake in these areas, given its very central location, along with the decision to open vaccinations to the 18 – 34 age group earlier than scheduled.

Follow the latest news on the City’s vaccination efforts here.

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Western Cape Head of Health Dr. Keith Cloete says the province’s healthcare system is under severe pressure, but has the capacity to treat Covid-19 patients.

90% of the province’s public-sector hospital beds, allocated to treat Covid-patients, are currently occupied.

Cloete says 7,000 beds had been brought online, in the public sector, to treat patients.

He says there is sufficient capacity to provide residents with proper care.

Access this week’s Western Cape digicon here.

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324 independent community pharmacies are currently in use, across the country, to assist Government with the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination drive.

According to the Independent Community Pharmacy Association, each of these pharmacies, on average, administer about 99 vaccinations per day.

The ICPA’s Head, Jackie Maiman says more than 30-thousand people are currently being vaccinated at community pharmacies on a daily basis.

Maiman says, in future, 588 community pharmacies will offer Covid-19 vaccinations.

Get more information on the ICPA here.

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Herd immunity does not mean that people would not get infected with the virus but rather means that those who are vaccinated, would not get severely ill from Covid-19.

This, according to the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Professor Shabir Madhi.

Madhi says Government should therefore instead change its messaging to focusing on informing residents that getting vaccinated would protect them, especially if they fall in vulnerable groups, from ending up in hospital.

Madhi says this may help in reducing vaccine-hesitancy among South Africans.

For more news on the latest Covid-19 news, follow the Smile 90.4FM Twitter-feed.

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More will be done in the coming weeks, to see that the country’s most vulnerable get access to Covid-19 vaccines as soon as possible.

This, according to the Deputy-director General at the Department of Health, Dr Nicholas Crisp. Crisp says even though more than 7-million people have already been vaccinated, there are still too many people who could not yet access healthcare facilities to get their injection.

He says people in the 50 and 60+ age groups would also be prioritized for their vaccine.

Access the full briefing here.

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