All those who are eligible for Phase 2a of vaccination programme must register

ONLY a quarter of the 752 475 people eligible for Phase 2a of the Covid-19 vaccine have so far registered to receive the jab, with just more than a week left before the process starts. By Wednesday, a total of 182 382, of those over 60 years of age had registered.

“It has been a difficult year, now is our time to fight back through our vaccine programme. In 11 days we start the roll-out of the vaccination programme. We can only do this if we are all registered on the system,” Premier Alan Winde said.

Phase 2 will start on May 17 and will overlap with the remainder of healthcare workers who have not been vaccinated yet as part of the Sisonke programme, health head Dr Keith Cloete said. “Residents of old-age homes will be prioritised for the commencement of Phase 2. Transition from one age band to the next will happen once a significant proportion (around 70%) of the target population in the current age band has been vaccinated,” he said.

Phase 2b of the vaccination programme, commencing on July 1, will include those aged 40 to 59.

As of Wednesday, a total of 65 668 health-care workers had been vaccinated in the province, in both the public and private sectors.

“We anticipate that the third wave will be lower than the second wave. However, this is dependent on the strength of our behaviour over the coming weeks. We need to mobilise and assist everyone over 60 years of age to be registered before May 17, 2021,” said Cloete.

Overall, he said, Covid-19 cases, admissions and deaths remained largely stable – with an average of 120 new cases, 25 admissions, and three deaths each day. “Currently, there are 760 Covid-19 patients in our acute hospitals, 425 in public hospitals, and 335 in private hospitals,” Cloete said.

Vaccine registration can be done at https://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za/#/