Mthuthuzeli Mhlana from Qwidlana village in the Eastern Cape is excited as he enters the vaccination centre. Mhlana who tellshe has not registered on the Electronic Vaccination Data System , is surprised when he gets his jab anyway.
Data released by the health department shows that by 27 May 421,556 people had registered in the province, including about 100,000 healthcare workers. Most of them are from urban areas. Nelson Mandela Bay had 57,110 registrations, followed by Buffalo City Metro with 46,086. Enoch Mgijima Municipality in the Chris Hani District led the rural areas with the most registrations at 15,842, while Mbashe Municipality which includes towns such as Idutywa and Willowvale had 8,916 registrations by then.
Philiso is partially blind and struggles to walk. “I heard people around the village talk about this pandemic that is killing people more, especially the elderly. Now that I am vaccinated I feel safe because I have faith that the vaccine is safe,” she tellsMichael Nyokana missed his first vaccination date due to a lack of transport to Madzikane ka Zulu Hospital, but Nyokana took advantage of the opportunity to get vaccinated when health workers came to vaccinate Philiso.
“It is difficult right now for some rural people to get the first jab. If the health workers can’t get hold of people for the second dose, what would happen? Because right now people are being registered [with] CHWs’ cell phones for the first dose of the vaccine but how efficient will the second SMS be given that they have struggled with the first mode of communication?” he asks.
“We have more than 3,000 healthcare workers, and we hired 34 additional vehicles to do door-to-door visits assisting elderly people with registration across the province. Not only that, but we are focusing mainly on rural areas to ensure that people are registered. Where we struggle with network, we record them manually and transfer their details onto the electronic system,” he says.
Health Health Latest News, Health Health Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: dailymaverick - 🏆 3. / 84 Read more »