Vaccinate now to save lives in fourth wave

“We can save 20 000 lives if we vaccinate 70% of adults by the end of the year.”

This is the message the South African government is promoting in its drive to vaccinate 17 million more adults by December.

To reach this goal, President Cyril Ramaphosa is calling on leaders in South Africa to intensify their support for the Covid-19 vaccine programme by getting behind the Vooma Vaccination Weekends, a mass vaccination drive by government and civil society, during which all public vaccination sites, as well as additional popup ones, will open for the weekend.

Over 17 million Covid-19 jabs have been administered and over 31% of adults in South Africa have now received at least one dose of vaccine against Covid-19. However, a fourth wave is expected to hit the country towards the end of the year.

As part of the initiative to limit projected hospitalisations and deaths, the first Vooma weekend was held from October 1 to 3 to vaccinate half a million people.

The public and private health sectors, organised labour and business, as well as community and faith-based formations are taking part in the initiative. Among them, ministers, deputy ministers, premiers, mayors, councillors and leaders from other sectors visited communities on Friday and

Saturday.

Ramaphosa also sees Vooma Vaccination Weekend initiatives as platforms for the nation to honour the efforts of frontline health workers and health service managers, as well as volunteers and other support personnel.

Vaccinating is free to everyone living in South Africa and available at government health facilities or some private pharmacies, with or without a medical aid. South Africans over 18 can now be vaccinated without waiting for an SMS to confirm a date or site.

Enquiries: Call the toll-free Covid-19 hotline on 0800 029 999.