The first group of public and private healthcare workers from the Garden Route District have officially received their Johnson & Johnson vaccinations on Wednesday, March 3. This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa moved South Africa down to Level 1 lockdown.
The first healthcare worker to receive the vaccination was Cedric Yantolo (56), an EMS Sub-district Manager for George. Yantolo received his vaccination shot at the launch of the George Hospital vaccination site, which took place Wednesday morning.
After receiving the shot, Yantolo explained why it was so important for him to get the vaccine, despite having a fear of needles.
“I am the only breadwinner in my family and some of my family members are sickly, so I cannot afford to get sick. So far I have protected myself with the only means available and that is personal protective gear,” Yantolo said in a statement.
He then went on to say, “I am however now ready for additional protection – the vaccine! I am afraid of needles, so getting this vaccine voluntarily really speaks to my belief in protecting myself and others.”
The vaccine was administered by Carika-Ann Jansen van Vuuren, who works as the operational manager for the outpatient department at George Hospital. Vuuren was admittedly afraid of administering the vaccine at first, but once she received the proper training, she realized that ‘one can only benefit from the vaccine’.
The first group of healthcare workers from both the public and private sector in the Garden Route District will receive their Johnson & Johnson’s vaccinations today, 3 March 2021. ?
Read more here: https://t.co/kgjB7gm070 pic.twitter.com/VuPe8QdDqP
— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde) March 3, 2021
Additional Vaccinations
The Western Cape received its second batch of vaccines over the weekend. The province has been allocated 13 068 doses. These will be delivered in two separate batches, according to the Western Cape Government. Of this, 2 560 will be distributed to the Rural areas.
Select health staff from the different sub-districts as well as private hospital staff who have registered and have received their voucher and confirmed an appointment with their manager will receive their vaccination within this week.
Vaccine registration for healthcare workers
During phase 1, only healthcare workers who wish to take up vaccination can register on the national electronic system: https://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za. Once registered they will be issued with a voucher indicating the vaccination site and date to go for the vaccination.
Registered healthcare workers are asked to liaise with the relevant person at their workplace to book their appointment after they have received their voucher.
The Western Cape Government will inform the public as to when they can start registering on the system to receive their vaccination.
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Picture: Twitter/@alanwinde