DURBAN - DOZENS of health-care workers queued outside St Augustine’s Hospital in Durban waiting to get their Covid-19 vaccination shot yesterday.
The KZN Department of Health said yesterday that 69 958 health-care workers have been vaccinated.
Regarding the roll-out for the public, spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa said: “The department has a target of 955 048 elderly citizens who need to register. As of yesterday, close to 200 000 of the health-care workers had registered.”
He said the department was embarking on a range of activities to encourage elderly people to register including:
- Engaging municipal offices throughout the province to assist those that might find it difficult to self-register on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS).
- Offering registration support through community health workers, mobile clinics, and Ward Based Primary.
- Healthcare Outreach Teams (WBPHCOTs). These teams will also go to SASSA points to assist the elderly with registration.
- Engaging various structures such as senior citizens’ groups to mobilize the elderly to register.
- Engaging other Government Departments to support the EVDS registration; for instance, utilization of agricultural extension officers, Community Development. Workers(CDWs), traditional court secretaries etc.
- Utilizing Central Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) points, and Operation Sukuma Sakhe structures to support the registration process.
- Training staff in some old age homes to support the elderly to register.
Phase 2 of the vaccination rollout programme is scheduled to start on May 17, 2021 for people over 60 as well as the remainder of the healthcare who were not vaccinated in Phase 1.
THE MERCURY