​Tebogo Tladi

Last month, Gauteng Premier Makhura raised his concerns about the widespread hesitance in men to getting the COVID-19 jab in the province – especially younger males.
It was in continued efforts to get more people vaccinated whereas also addressing his longstanding anxieties that the Gauteng Provincial Government kick-started the vaccination programme rollout at Vaal University of Technology (VUT), Vanderbijlpark this morning which will continue until Saturday.
For 23 year-old second-year Safety Management student Kenneth Mphahlele, this was a health opportunity worth exploiting.  
"I've always wanted to get vaccinated but have been doubtful due to my own personal concerns," shared Mphahlele.
"To be honest, being a young man in this particular time comes with a level of uncertainty.  In one hand; you've got multiple conspiracies, mainly fuelled by social media, about the diseases existence on the other hand, there's peers sharing others' stories about ill side-effects that come with the COVID vaccines.  Added to the typical male stubbornness, it has really been a difficult decision to make," he stated. 
He further admitted that it was after he had familiarised himself with the disease and the health perks of getting vaccinated that he was ultimately able to brave the jab.
"Instead of relying on fake news and my peers' hearsay, I made it a point to conduct my own research; I read pamphlets and got information online and found vaccination to be more beneficial to my health as far as the managing of the disease and decreasing the chances of COVID 19-related mortality," he said.
Mphahlele concluded by appealing to his peers, especially other males, to be realistic about the pandemic and reconsider the protection that comes with vaccinating – if not for themselves only but also for their loved ones. 
GPG took a decision to take the vaccination rollout programme to the Sedibeng District after it noted that the region was not performing well. And as part of improving the vaccination rollout, various pop-up sites will be activated in the district in the coming weeks.
The pop-up site will be based at VUT's Isak Steyl Stadium, Playfair Boulevard, C.E.6, Vanderbijlpark and will operate between 09h00-15h00 for all three days.
The vaccination programme is open to the university community and the public from Sedibeng District and surrounding areas.
Gauteng aims to vaccinate 10 million people by mid December 2021. As of yesterday more than 14 million people were vaccinated since the start of the rollout.