B4SA urges all adults to get jabbed after vaccinations open for over-18s

From Friday all adults in SA will be eligible to register for a Covid-19 vaccination, the cabinet confirmed on Thursday.

The government wants to boost the vaccination rate, which has remained low as the country battles the third wave of the pandemic. All those 18 years and older can register for vaccinations from Friday. 

A vaccine reduces the risk of hospitalisation and death in those infected by the virus, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives in the country since its start of 2020. 

Business Day earlier reported that the cabinet, which met on Wednesday, was alarmed by a slowdown in the rate of Covid-19 vaccinations and was considering proposals, including opening up vaccinations to all adults and increasing the number of vaccination sites.

Five months after administering its first vaccines, SA is still far from meeting its target of reaching 70% of the population, a threshold experts say is necessary before the country can reach herd immunity and reduce the risk of further lockdowns.

In addition to a health crisis, SA’s economy has been devastated by the various lockdowns and shrank by 7% in 2020, with a loss of more than 1-million jobs.

Business For SA (B4SA) welcomed the cabinet’s decision to open vaccination to over 18s.

“We are delighted that every adult in the country will be eligible for Covid-19 vaccination from tomorrow,” said Martin Kingston, chair of the organisation’s steering committee. “As a country we now have sufficient vaccines and vaccination sites across the length and breadth of SA, which means we can increase our daily vaccination rate substantially. Everything is in place; now all we need is for South Africans to show up in numbers.” 

Kingston said it was urgent that South Africans took up the call to get vaccinated urgently to decrease the potential of a long fourth wave over the festive season, and encouraged every adult to register and make vaccination a priority.

With ongoing challenges with the government’s registration system, pharmaceutical retailer Clicks will from Friday launch an online system to support the government. 

“We have listened to the needs of our customers and have made our new online booking portal quick and easy to use, with convenience in mind. We anticipate a huge increase in vaccinations with the opening up of the 18+ cohort, since they are very tech-savvy and live online and on their smartphones. Customers can choose their nearest Clicks Pharmacy and a date and time which is most convenient for them, with the aim of cutting down waiting periods and reducing queues in-store,” Vikash Singh, Clicks managing executive, said.

omerjeeh@businesslive.co.za