Youth lauded for their uptake of vaccinations
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has applauded the youth for leading the vaccination drive, as they went in large numbers to get vaccinated.
“As I watched young people being interviewed while queueing at vaccination centres, I was impressed by their enthusiasm and excitement. Most of all, I was impressed by their knowledge about the vaccine, how it can protect, and why it is necessary,” he wrote in his weekly newsletter.
Provincial Health Department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said they anticipated an increase in demand as the 18 to 35-year-old age cohort became eligible for the vaccination.
“This was evident on Friday and on Saturday, when we vaccinated 53290 and 15 000 people, respectively, bringing the total vaccinations done for the week to more than 200000,” said Van der Heever.
“We have always maintained a scale-up approach to be in a position where we are now – with sufficient vaccines, sufficient demand, and the capacity to support this. We encourage everyone who is eligible for vaccination to take the opportunity to protect themselves and their communities.”
Last week, the Cabinet approved the cohort for vaccination, bringing it forward by nearly two weeks.
As of 1pm yesterday, the Western Cape had recorded 41826 current active infections, 474104 confirmed cases and 414 743 recoveries. Currently, 3 511 people have been hospitalised, with 698 patients in high care or ICU.
To date, 17535 people have succumbed to the virus in the province.
Around 1661709 Covid-19 vaccinations have been administered since the provincial roll-out.
Medscheme clinical advisory and risk managing executive Dr Lungi Nyathi said it was too early to say if the expansion of the programme would make significant headway in the vaccination roll-out.
“We know, though, that when an age band opens up, there are a flurry of registrations and vaccinations in the first few weeks and then it slows down. The reality is that we need to ensure that all those not yet vaccinated, regardless of age group, get vaccinated. It is critical to ensure that we allow those who want to get vaccinated to do so as soon as possible.”
The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) said its investigations into the 32 deaths, following immunisation, had been completed and causality assessments concluded. It is mandated to oversee the safety, efficacy and quality of all medicines in the country, including vaccines.
Twenty-eight of the 32 deaths were not linked to vaccinations, and four deaths were unclassified, due to a lack or inadequate information available.
Sahpra said serious adverse events following immunisation, including adverse events of special interest, were found to be extremely rare for the Covid-19 vaccine, most of them being “mild, non-serious, and already listed in the intentionally approved product information”.
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa says the younger generation has given the country hope in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic through its impressive turnout to receive the vaccine.
In his weekly column yesterday, Ramaphosa said young South Africans had shown maturity and understanding about the importance of getting vaccinated. He said since the vaccination process had opened for those aged between 18 and 35 last Friday, more than half a million people had signed up.
“I was not surprised to see young people taking to this task with such determination. Since the pandemic broke out 17 months ago, young South Africans have been an integral part of the national effort to battle the coronavirus,” the president said.
“We have seen the youth step up to keep themselves and others safe. We have seen youth formations and community organisations, young leaders, influencers and content creators using their platforms to share public health messages with their peers.”
He noted the younger generation’s prolific use of social media to spread information, but warned that a lot of “shady content” was being circulated about the vaccines. He urged people to refrain from sharing it.
“These messages are harmful, and are making people hesitant to get vaccinated. This is not only harmful to young people, but many others, including people at risk who really need the vaccine,” Ramaphosa said.
“Young people are digital natives. They are more tech savvy than any generation that came before them. It is important that they help to spread the correct information about vaccines provided by the Department of Health and World Health Organization.”
As of Sunday, South Africa had recorded a cumulative 2 690 973 cases of Covid-19, with 79 421 related deaths, according to the Health Department.
Gauteng remains the largest contributor to the case load with 898 181, followed by the Western Cape with 466 463 and KwaZulu-Natal with 454 150. Ramaphosa said just under 5 million people had been fully inoculated against the virus. |