Cape Town - Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout is vaccinated.
Pieter-Dirk Uys, the man best known for portraying Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout, was all dolled-up as his alter ego to receive the Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday.
Uys is a South African performer, author, satirist, and social activist.
Tannie Evita, who hardly ever puts a foot wrong when it comes to fashion, made sure her hair was looking good and dressed to impressed when she received her vaccine jab in front on the media in the West Coast.
She said she was really nervous to get her vaccination but had been reassured that “it’s just a small prick”.
“Yes, I am so very relieved to get my vaccine. But I have a smart phone. I have a computer. I have internet. I have a car. I am 85 and I still drive myself. But many, many of my generation and younger don’t know how to register.
“So if you know how and someone doesn’t – please help them to register. And if you don’t know, then ask someone to help you. My son De Kock registered me; I couldn’t get the little blue letters on the screen to turn black. This is why we do need to be able to cope with walk-ins and information in all eleven languages,” Bezuidenhout said.
“And I was so pleased to hear Premier Alan Winde and the Western Cape Government responding to this obvious need to manage and to allow walk-ins.”
Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said: “As more vaccines arrive in the province, we can open more sites and vaccinate more people.
“The plan for this week is to increase the number of daily vaccinations administered increase from 6000 a day last week, to over 12 000 a day this week.”
Premier Alan Winde said: “We are excited to join Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout today as she receives her vaccination in the West Coast District. She is helping create awareness for the importance of getting vaccinated.”
The province has been doing a big push to encourage many of the elderly in the Western Cape to register for the Covid-19 vaccine.
The province-wide vaccination programme will see every district covered in the province.
Winde said the province plans to have:
- 70 sites in the City of Cape Town
- 48 sites in the Overberg District
- 53 sites in the West Coast District
- 14 sites in the Central Karoo District
- 41 sites in the Garden Route District
- 48 sites in the Cape Winelands District
Winde added that according to the latest data, the Central Karoo District Municipality has the lowest proportion of residents, over 60, who have registered for their Covid-19 vaccine, when compared to other districts in the province.
“They currently have just 22.15% registered, when compared to the provincial average of 43.80%.
“This is concerning to me, because no person should be left behind. Every life matters, no matter what you earn, or where you live,” Winde said.
“The Western Cape government has already taken a number of steps to assist with access to the registration portal, including making available our Cape Access Centres, libraries, and zero-rating the EVDS website on our public Wi-Fi hotspots.”
The premier said to assist further, he has dispatched his own team of community liaison officers to the Central Karoo this week, where they will also go into communities to assist residents to register for their vaccine.
They will visit Beaufort West, Prins Albert and Laingsburg.
“I want to encourage residents in the Central Karoo to please help those who are 60 years and older to register for their vaccine. It will only take up six minutes of your time, but it could potentially save someone’s life.”