If the idea becomes policy, then Cape Town nightclubs could be only accessible to partygoers who have been vaccinated, Western Cape Premier Alan Winds revealed.
Cape Town nightclubs: Is a vax card the new entry ticket?
The Premier made these utterances at the walk-in section of the Athlone mass vaccination site earlier this week.
He revealed that while it’s not an enforced by-law, the idea of restricting access to social and entertainment venues to vaccinated Capetonians was not outside the realm of possibility.
“What better way to be able to get back into a nightclub than via the vaccine?” the Premier teased.
The Western Cape has been tagged as the next province to experience a harsh third wave, after Gauteng, and at Alert Level 3, carriers of the Delta variant are, for the most part, party patrons who enjoy the pleasantries of nightclubbing in densely populated venues.
Winde revealed that the idea to restrict access to Cape Town nightclubs was coined by Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo at a recent meeting. Whether this will be fully enforced remains to be seen.
How is the Western Cape doing in its vaccine drive?
The province is in a race to vaccinate as many people as possible, at a time when the Delta variant is gaining momentum.
Vaccinations administered thus far
Thus far, the Western Cape is part of the leading pack in its daily inoculations. In the last 24 hours, public and private sites recorded 34 289 jabs, bringing the total number of vaccine administered to 1 567 329 as at Wednesday 18 August 2021.
While there are signs of improvement in the daily intake at vaccination sites, Premier Winde still believes that more could be achieved if President Cyril Ramaphosa opened up vaccine registration to the 18-30 cohort.
“Let’s get people into the system as quickly as possible, because December is coming and we want to enjoy the December holiday season and have a return to normality in our health-care system,” he urged.
Latest COVID-19 infection tally
The Western Cape currently leads with the highest daily infection rate in South Africa. On Wednesday, the province recorded 3 931 new COVID-19 cases, 27% of the country’s total tally.
“The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape provinces still appear to be on the upward slope of the third wave, although the Western Cape is showing early signs of reaching the peak of their third wave. Whereas the Free State and Northern Cape provinces continue to see a steady number of new cases,” NICD Acting Executive Director, Prof Adrian Puren said
