Cape Town - The Western Cape is on track to reach 1 million vaccinations this week.
The provincial health department said at the weekend that its vaccination programme was now in its ninth week, and the weekly target of 150 000 vaccinations had been exceeded for the second week in a row.
“As at Friday, for the week, 158 539 vaccinations were administered as part of the national programme, bringing the total number of people in the province having received at least one dose of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, or the one-dose J&J vaccine for the health workers and educators, to 960 594,” the department said.
“Last week, even though there was some public transport disruption, which impacted our ability on Tuesday, the teams managed to make up the deficit by exceeding 150 000 vaccinations for the week, with a total of 158 539 vaccinations.”
The department also made vaccinations available on Saturdays at 10 sites, including False Bay Hospital, Saxon Sea Hall, Atlantis, Gugulethu Community Health Clinic, Van der Stell Hall in Stellenbosch and Citrusdal Hospital.
“Additional weekend public sites will be considered, on an ongoing basis, as this is dependent on vaccine supply.”
On Friday, the department received 93 600 vaccines and this, along with the remaining doses from last week, will sustain capacity at about 200 active public health vaccination sites across the province.
This as the vaccination roll-out for the social development sector in the province, which includes the Early Childhood Development (ECD) workforce and social service professionals, has been extended to Friday.
In order to reach as many people as possible, members of the social service sector will be able to walk in at their designated vaccination site, and should bring their identity documents, confirmation of employment at an ECD, or proof of professional registration.
The national Department of Health has loaded an estimated 10 000 ECD workers in the Western Cape onto the electronic vaccination data system (EVDS).
By Sunday, the province had recorded a total of 385 672 Covid-19 cases and 14 655 deaths. There were 34 336 active cases.
On Friday, the seven-day moving average was 82 deaths per day.
ECD staff and social service professionals can find out whether they have been loaded onto the EVDS by calling: 0800 029 999 before going to the vaccination sites.
Cape Times