​Qaqambile Mdledle
Persons who are 60 years and older  came out in numbers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at Munsieville Centre for the Aged in Krugersdorp, Gauteng.
When the opportunity to be vaccinated eventually came, 77-year-old Poppy Koekemoer, wanted to be among the first to receive the jab.
 She was one of 100 senior citizens to receive the Pfizer vaccine at Munsieville Care for the Aged in Krugersdop, on Monday as South Africa implements phase 2 of its vaccination programme.
Speaking on the side-lines after receiving her COVID-19 vaccine, Koekemoer urged everyone who is 60 years and older to get vaccinated so that they can be protected from serious illness, hospitalisation and death in the event they contract COVID-19.
"I would tell people to get the vaccine when their turn comes. The slower we vaccinate, the less effective we render the vaccine and more chance we give the virus to transform. Then we must live through this again and I can't live through this again," said Koekemoer.
Gauteng MEC for Health, Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi said the province was ready to vaccinate more than 1,5 million of its vulnerable citizens.
She further mentioned that she met the elderly people and their message has been very positive, they believe vaccines work.
"We can't be in a situation where we wait five years to get long-term safety data, by which time the pandemic would have passed and the number of lives that would've been lost would be in the hundreds of millions," said Dr Mokgethi.
In addition, Dr Mokgethi said the department was conducting loud hailing in townships and using community health workers in a door-to-door campaign encouraging people to register for COVID-19 vaccination.​​