Pretoria - Gauteng Premier David Makhura and his MECs yesterday visited various Covid-19 vaccination sites in the province to encourage eligible people to register and get their jabs.
In addition to senior citizens who were mostly coming by appointment for their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at Sammy Marks Square, people over the age of 50, who were now eligible for vaccination, also turned out in large numbers.
All public vaccination sites in Gauteng were accepting walk-ins and assisting people who show up and easily be processed, registered on the spot and then interviewed by nurses to check if there were recent activities in their lives that would prohibit them from receiving the jab at that point.
According to the provincial government, since the launch of the mobile vaccination drive on Monday, the province has seen improvement in vaccination numbers.
The drive was aimed at assisting all eligible people to get vaccinated near their places of residence or work using mobile clinics. The City of Tshwane and the provincial government urged all eligible people to visit their nearest vaccination site and have the jab.
Tshwane health awareness promoter and queue marshal Meshack Gumeda had a busy morning at Sammy Marks assisting people older than 60 coming for the second jab and those between the ages of 50 and 59 who were there for the first time.
He said: "This vaccination site is the busiest because people come from all other jurisdictions like Mamelodi, Soshanguve, Centurion, Pretoria North, Mabopane, Ga-Rankuwa and more, but we do not turn them away.
"We do not turn anyone away. We just make sure they are quickly screened, ushered in and processed to ensure they are not already on the system and then we proceed to administer the jab."
Dorah Ledwaba said she was proud to have the opportunity to vaccinate because she had already lost a colleague and a friend to Covid-19.
"I believe the vaccine is safe because my elderly parents took it, and they are healthy and well. I am so happy with that, and I hope more people take the vaccine because we need to protect ourselves,” she said.
“Let us not scare people with information that is not backed by science because a life lost cannot be brought back."
Pretoria News