GEORGE NEWS - A total of 46 902 vaccines have been administered in the Garden Route since the start of the vaccine programme. This includes healthcare workers, old age homes and public sites.

According to the Western Cape Vaccine Dashboard, 44,37% of people over 50 in the district (64 549) have registered to be vaccinated (as at 6 July).

In George, 28 449 people over 50 have registered.

District health spokesperson Nadia Ferreira said 4 559 doses were received for this week. Vaccination of people between 50 and 59 years of age began on Monday 5 July after the opening up of registration on the electronic vaccination data system (EVDS) for this age group on 1 July. Sites in the Garden Route receive walk-ins. Some sites have found that fewer of their appointment clients have pitched up.

Teachers' vaccination

According to Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond, 3 318 people from the education sector in the Eden and Central Karoo district have been vaccinated up until Monday 5 July.

"There are 4 989 scheduled in total in the district, but that is changing day by day as we receive additional information (on registrations), therefore this could rise to above 5 000. There is still a great sense of excitement and immense appreciation for this opportunity in the sector, thanks to the provincial Department of Health and our WCED head office and district staff who have worked tirelessly to make this happen."

Feedback regarding the progress in vaccination of police members, which opened this week, is being awaited.

Vaccines' impact on health of HCWs

Head of Health Dr Keith Cloete said in a digital conference on 1 July that 212 out of 22 970 vaccinated healthcare workers (HCWs) in the province have been infected, of whom 10 were hospitalised. Only one needed to be admitted to the ICU and there have been no deaths. He said this is a positive indication of the effectiveness of vaccination. "We are tracking this very closely, especially with the increase in the Delta variant."

Vaccination has been scaled up over the past six weeks with more vaccines available, and the province has the capacity to scale up rapidly as more vaccines are received.

The Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) was opened as a mass vaccination centre on Wednesday 7 July and will have administered 750 000 vaccinations by December.

The EVDS will allocate available appointment slots in the following order of priority:

• Priority 1 - people 60 years and older requiring their first dose of Pfizer vaccine;
• Priority 2 - people 60 years and older who are eligible for their second dose of Pfizer vaccine (approximately 42 days after their first dose);
• Priority 3 - people aged 50 to 59 years requiring their first dose of Pfizer vaccine.

Vaccination sites in George

The George vaccination sites are Harry Comay TB Hospital, George Central Clinic, Thembalethu CDC, Touwsranten Clinic, Uniondale Hospital, Pacaltsdorp Clinic and the George and Herold mobile routes.

Sedgefielders Warren and Judy Rosewall registered in April, but with no appointments forthcoming they came to Harry Comay vaccination centre to do a walk-in after the centres in Sedgefield and Knysna could not assist them on the day.  

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