South Africa is slowly picking up the pace in its vaccine drive and on Friday, the Department of Health announced that registration will soon be opened to people aged between 35 and 49 years old.
When will vaccine registration open for ages 35-49?
At a press briefing chaired by Acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, it was confirmed that vaccine registration for people aged 35 and up will be open from Thursday 15 July 2021.
Eligible citizens will need to visit the EVDS registration system and fill in the entry to receive confirmation of their respective inoculation appointment.
While the public is encouraged to adhere to the appointment schedules sent to them via SMS, walk-ins with or without medical aid may be accepted at certain vaccination sites at a cost handled by the government.
The ministry revealed that tentatively, the aim is to start inoculating this age group from Sunday 1 August 2021.
Western Cape COVID-19 spike raises concerns
UKZN Professor Tulio de Oliveira gave a detailed update on recent developments in the third wave and noted, with concern, that the Western Cape may be headed towards a spike in hospitalisations.
The province has seen a rise in daily positive cases and according to Oliveira, preparations are being made to increase bed availability in anticipation of an upsurge in COVID-19-related admissions.
The silver lining to this, the professor revealed, is the health department’s commitment to increasing vaccine availability across the board in the next few weeks as well as the finalisation of funding that was made on Thursday which should help increase inoculations on weekends, a period that usually sees little-to-no activity.
According to the NICD, these are the latest COVID-19 statistics for the Western Cape, reported on Thursday 8 July 2021 for the preceding 24-hour cycle:
- The Western Cape accounts for 15.9% of South Africa’s total infection tally, third on the rankings behind KwaZulu-Natal (17.1%) and Gauteng (34.7%).
- The province recorded 2 557 COVID-19 cases, the second-highest tally in the country for Thursday’s reporting period.
- Total cases in WC stood at 340 496 on Thursday 8 July 2021, a 0.75% increase from Wednesday’s tally (337 939).
- In the last 24 hours (data collected on Wednesday 7 July 2021), the Western Cape administered 28 404 vaccine doses, for first-time and returning patients.
- Thus far, the Western Cape is the third-most vaccinated province with 589 022 doses administered to-date, with a total of 434 686 patients on their first dose.