SO FAR, 4 426 older persons have been vaccinated across 57 old age homes in the province, as part of Phase 2 of the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out plan.
This was revealed by the Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) on Wednesday, with DSD MEC Sharna Fernandez saying: “Our elderly citizens are considered a high-risk group, in terms of requiring hospitalisation or other forms of specialised services if they contract Covid-19. Consequently, we are remaining on high alert to respond to any potential resurgence of the virus across old age homes.”
There are a total of 300 old age homes, of which 117 are funded by the DSD in the Western Cape.
As of May 24, the total number of residents in old age homes, who had recovered from Covid-19, had increased to 2 670.
The DSD said that the current figures show an increase of 14 recoveries, and a stabilisation in the number of active infections at eight, since the DSD last provided an update on May 19.
“I wish to thank the management teams of every old age home, carers, staff, officials and family members, for their ongoing commitment and devotion to helping us manage the spread of the virus at all old age homes. We are grateful and appreciative of all your efforts during these challenging times,” said Fernandez.
All residential facilities were encouraged to urgently register residents, who are 60 years and older, on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS).
Meanwhile, the Health Department encouraged residents to wait for their appointment SMS (date and place) before going to a vaccination site, to avoid congestion.
“We kindly ask for this cooperation in following the scheduling because we want to ensure an efficient, Covid-19-safe environment at the sites, by avoiding long queues and crowds. We also want to ensure that our senior citizens experience good service at these sites.
“At this stage, in line with the above, we have asked our local teams managing sites to stick to this sequencing approach across the province, allowing for some on-site flexibility due to operational circumstances. These include practical issues at vaccination sites, where we must accommodate a small, limited number of walk-ins,” the department said.
People over the age of 60 can register at no cost by using the USSD service: dial *134*832# to start the registration process or send the word “REGISTER” to 0600 123 456 on WhatsApp, or visit http://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za