​Thembisa Shologu
The vaccination drive for persons aged between 35 and 49 years will commence on 1 August 2021.
That's according to Acting Health Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane who said registration on Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) Self Registration Portal would be open for this group from Thursday 15 July 2021.
Minister Kubayi-Ngubane said government was ramping up its vaccination roll-out programme so that the vaccines could reach the majority of South Africans and protect them from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 virus.
"We continue to see more drives and initiatives by various provinces for increased mobilisation for vaccination, of note this week is the mobile vaccination drive in Gauteng.
"We are encouraged that the number of vaccinations per day had surpassed 191 000 on 8 July at 17h00 and we are expecting to surpass 250 000 vaccinations per day by next week. In terms of overall vaccinations, we are also happy to announce that we have surpassed the 4 million mark of people who have received vaccines," said Kubayi-Ngubane.
Despite the strides made, she said government was still far below what Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19 Vaccines (VMAC) and the President expected the department to achieve with regards to vaccination.
"This means that there is a lot of work that the team working on the vaccination programme still needs to do. We must ensure that the vaccines reach all South Africans as quickly as possible.
"We will now pay attention to vaccination per district and make the necessary interventions working together with provinces," she said.
In addition, the South African Health Products Authority (SAHPRA) approved the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by Sinovac Life Science for use in South Africa.
"The approval came at a time when more and more people are yearning to get vaccines.
Following the approval, we are expecting an advisory from VMAC to take the process forward. They understand the urgency of the matter," she added.