#LetsDoThis: Western Cape launches non-Metro vaccination drive with Tannie Evita
Today, I had the great pleasure of launching the province’s non-Metro vaccination drive with Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout.
Tannie Evita, who is a resident in the West Coast District of the Western Cape, received her vaccination today at the Wesbank Community Hall in Malmesbury, helping to send an important message to residents across the province that the vaccine is safe and that it offers excellent protection against severe COVID-19 related illness and death.
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Tannie Evita for once again leading from the front in our country.
This, of course, is not the first time she has helped with important health awareness campaigns, having been a powerful advocate for HIV awareness and education. I admire her dedication, and I am personally a very big fan!
Tannie Evita said: “Yes, I am so very relieved to get my vaccine. But I have a smart phone. I have a computer. I have internet. I have a car. I am 85 and I still drive myself. But many, many of my generation and younger don’t know how to register. So if you know how and someone doesn’t – please help them to register. And if you don’t know, then ask someone to help you. My son De Kock registered me; I couldn’t get the little blue letters on the screen to turn black. This is why we do need to be able to cope with walk-ins and information in all eleven languages. And I was so pleased to hear Premier Alan Winde and the Western Cape Government responding to this obvious need to manage and to allow walk-ins.”
The Provincial Minister of Health, Nomafrench Mbombo, said: “As more vaccines arrive in the province, we can open more sites and vaccinate more people. The plan for this week is to increase the number of daily vaccinations administered increase from 6000 a day last week, to over 12 000 a day this week.”
“Wesbank Community Hall started vaccinating today and I am happy that Tannie Evita was willing to do this publicly. This will go a long way in eliminating vaccine hesitancy. Once again, I appeal to people to spend 6 minutes of their time to register an elderly, they can do this for free in one of our 75 Access Centres. Help an elder to register. #LetsDoThisWC”
This week, the Western Cape will increase the number of public vaccination service points to over 137 which includes, public and private sites, as well as temporary outreaches to places like old age homes.
The sites that come online this week are just the first of many more to come, and we ask for your patience as we scale up in this way.
This approach is necessary because we need to make sure we match the available supply of vaccines. As more vaccines arrive, more sites can then open, and more appointments will be confirmed. The result will be that more SMSs will get generated and sent to those who have registered.
I want to reassure you that our fundamental principle is that no person should be left behind, and that every person who wants to get vaccinated should have the option to – no matter where they live, or what they earn.
That is why we plan to open hundreds of sites across the Western Cape over the course of this historic vaccination programme, including:
- 48 sites in the Overberg District
- 48 sites in the Cape Winelands District
- 14 sites in the Central Karoo District
- 53 sites in the West Coast District, and
- 41 sites in the Garden Route District
However, in order for our vaccination programme to be a success, we need as many people as possible to register for their COVID-19 vaccination. Our registration numbers are growing nicely, now exceeding 315 000, but we still have a long way to go.
I want to urge those who have not yet registered to do so. If you know someone who is over 60 and needs help to register, please do your best to assist. It will take just 6 minutes of your time.
Registration is simple and can be done by:
- visiting https://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za/#/ or www.westerncape.gov.za
- dialing *134*832# and follow the prompts (FREE on all South African Networks); or
- WhatsApp the word REGISTER to 0600 123456.
The time has come for us to fightback against COVID-19. #LetsDoThis Western Cape.
Please see link to livestream of Evita Bezuidenhout’s vaccination here: https://www.facebook.com/windealan/videos/145921104237818
