Western Cape now SA’s most vaccinated province as third wave looms

CAPE TOWN – SA’s phase 2 Covid-19 vaccination programme seems to be gathering momentum, in the last 24 hours 91, 541 people were vaccinated, taking the total to more than 1,5 million for both the elderly who are 60 and above as well as healthcare workers.

On Tuesday, the country’s vaccination programme reached a major vaccine milestone, with the number of officially vaccinated people reaching over one million. The department of health also announced that there are nearly 3,5 million people currently registered on the electronic vaccination data system (EVDS). The figure also includes those who registered in phase 1.

According to the department of health vaccination dashboard the Western Cape has overtaken KwaZulu-Natal as the most vaccinated province, calculated as a percentage of the total provincial population.

The latest breakdown for vaccination registrations by district in the Western Cape are:

• City of Cape Town – 220 076 (46.47%)

• Cape Winelands District – 34 896 (41.18%)

• Garden Route District – 38 628 (47.63%)

• Overberg District – 24 315 (75.63%)

• West Coast District – 19 809 (51.51%)

• Central Karoo District (29.66%)

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said with the percentage of residents over 60 who have registered for their vaccine continuing to increase on a daily basis, they are confident we will soon break through the 50% mark.

“While these figures have grown notably over the last month, I am still concerned that many communities within a specific district have low rates of vaccination registration mainly because they do not have the means to access the online registration portal,” said Winde.

Meanwhile, earlier today the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town announced that they have reached a joint agreement to turn the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) into a mass vaccination site and are working around the clock to deliver it.

Winde said it is envisaged that the mass ‘vaccination centre of hope’ at its peak, will be able to vaccinate over 4000 people a day.

“It will have up to 50 vaccination stations, with each station capable of administering 100 vaccinations per day. This will have a major impact on the pace of our vaccination programme, especially as we move to vaccinate residents under the age of 60,” he said.

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