Taking vaccines to the unvaccinated. Gauteng premier David Makhura says the province had administered 70,000 vaccines daily as of Tuesday. File photo.
Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
Loading ...

Gauteng premier David Makhura says taking vaccines to the unvaccinated is proving effective after the province administered 70,000 vaccines a day last Friday and on Tuesday. 

He commended the over-18 cohort for giving the vaccine rollout much-needed momentum. The date of the vaccination of this group was pushed forward to last Friday. The government initially said over-18s would be eligible to register for the jab on September 1.

Makhura said the province will now aim for a new ambitious target of 100,000 vaccines daily to further drive up the vaccination figures.

According to the numbers shared by the premier on Wednesday, 2.1-million adults have been vaccinated so far in the province, with 1.1-million fully vaccinated. 

About 50,000 adults were vaccinated at the weekend.

Loading ...

Makhura added that more men were showing up to get the jab at pop-up vaccination sites. This after concerns emerged earlier about the low turnout of men compared with women.

Since Friday, August 20, Gauteng vaccination sites have seen some improvement in the turnout and vaccination of males, from 43% to 44.5%. This is a welcome development that needs to be sustained. Well done to men who are showing up,” Makhura said on Wednesday. 

The provincial health department is on Thursday at SABC Radio Park, where it hopes to vaccinate eligible adults in numbers.

“There are a lot of students here in Auckland Park, there are several colleges here and the University of Johannesburg. We look forward to an exciting day today. We need a lot of young people out. They started coming out in large numbers on Friday,” said the premier. 

The provincial health department has pop-up vaccination sites in different parts of Gauteng in an effort to get more people to vaccinate. Last week, Makhura said officials conducted door-to-door interactions with various communities, dispelling myths about the vaccine. 

Loading ...
Loading ...
View Comments