Tutu gets vaccine as South Africa launches large-scale rollout
By AFP
3 HOURS AGO
Anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah were among South Africa s first seniors to get jabs. By RODGER BOSCH (AFP)
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and retired archbishop Desmond Tutu was among South Africa s first seniors to receive jabs on Monday as the country launched a massive immunisation drive for over-60s.
The 89-year-old anti-apartheid icon and his wife Leah emerged from Cape Town s Brooklyn Chest Hospital in wheelchairs after getting their shots.
After much delay and on the cusp of a third wave of Covid-19 infections, South Africa finally rolled out the much anticipated campaign, which aims to vaccinate around five million people aged over 60 by the end of June.
Phase 2 of South Africa’s vaccination roll-out has started at an initial 87 vaccination sites across the country. The government aims to vaccinate five million people aged 60 and older by the end of June, “provided that the supply of vaccine flows as anticipated”, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday.
Four of the initial 87 sites are in the private sector and the rest in the public sector. A list of vaccination sites per province can be seen here. More sites will be added over time.
There are several ways that someone who is 60 years and older can register for vaccination. The first is through the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS), which can be accessed here:
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah were among the first elderly people to be inoculated as the Western Cape started its second phase of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
BL PREMIUM 16 May 2021 - 18:34 Naledi Shange Phases 1B and 2 of the mass vaccination programme are scheduled to be rolled out from Monday.
The Gauteng health department said in phase 1B, health-care workers who had not yet been vaccinated, traditional health practitioners and staff employed at funeral parlours would be vaccinated. Phase 2 of the vaccination rollout programme will target people who are 60 years and older. ..
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