Cape Town – The Western Cape’s Department of Health has been given control over the scheduling of SMSes for Covid-19 vaccinations.
This will allow local teams to control the distribution of SMSes in the province, says Western Cape Premier Alan Winde.
’’We understand there were some instances where residents missed their appointment because sites generated by the national scheduling were too far away. This localised approach to scheduling will prevent this from happening again.’’
He said a three-day lead time would be provided in future, so that residents have enough time to get to their vaccination site. The teams will also make sure that sites are selected close to where the person resides.
’’If you did miss your appointment, you will still be able to get your vaccine and a new date by contacting the following number to reschedule: 0800 029 999,’’ said Winde.
The percentage of residents over the age of 60 who have registered for their vaccine has increased from 27% to 37% since last week’s digital press conference, said Winde.
’’This is a positive increase, but it is not enough, as we need to reach 60% of all residents as soon as possible.’
’’From my door-to-door #LetsDoThis vaccination drive this week, it is becoming clear that there is high demand for the vaccine, but many people do not know how or don’t have the ability to register for it.’’
On Friday, Winde launched a new campaign to drive vaccination registrations in the Western Cape called ’’6 minutes for the 60+’’, which calls on our residents to give just 6 minutes of their time to register someone they care about who is 60 years old or older.
Western Cape Head of Health Dr Keith Cloete said the province may enter a Covid-19 third wave in two to three weeks. There has been a 25% week-on-week increase and cases had risen to about 200 a day.
In the Cape Metro, there has been a 33% week-on-week rise in cases.
"Northern, eastern, southern, western and Tygerberg are the places where the numbers are increasing and as reported to you last week, it is still a predominant increase n the more affluent areas because these are positive cases coming from the private sector.
"We have not yet met the criteria for being in the third wave but we could enter the third wave in two to three weeks if the current trajectory continues. So, the SA Covid-19 Modelling Consortium has put a notice out for all provinces and indicated that we can expect to the middle of June, based on the current projections, that we will enter a third wave."
The SA Covid-19 Modelling Consortium predicted a third wave that would be smaller than the second wave in the Western Cape, Cloete said.
As of 1pm yesterday, the Western Cape had 3 163 active Covid-19 infections, with a total of 290 962 people having been infected to date and 276 065 recoveries.
The Western Cape has recorded five additional deaths, bringing the total number of Covid-19-related deaths in the province to 11 734.
IOL