As the vaccine roll-out has started across the country, the Government has opened an online portal so that South African health care workers may register to be vaccinated.
It should be noted, however, that ONLY healthcare workers are eligible for this registration at the moment, NOT the 65+ age group, as a fake WhatsApp message doing the rounds has suggested.
There have been concerns that when the online registration DOES open for the next tier of recipients – that is the over 65s and those with co-morbidities – there will be some local residents in this group who do not have the necessary internet access or indeed the ‘internet savvy’ to negotiate the process themselves.
For this reason, the Masithandane NPO is setting up a simple system in advance so that they may assist such people in the registration process.. Those who would like Masithandane to register them on the Vaccine Database when it opens may send their details via WhatsApp to 082 092 4652 or email to vaccmst@gmail.com.
The information required for each person is their ID number, full name (as per ID), address, and contact number. This information will be kept confidential and certainly not shared elsewhere.
The Masithandane team will also endeavour to provide transport for those who are unable to make their way to the vaccination points when the time comes.
Over the last weekend, over 1700 vaccines were administered to health care workers in the Western Cape, which brought the total to 2756 vaccines administered in the province by 5pm on Monday.
Premiere Alan Winde says “This is the biggest vaccination drive in the province and the country, with a number of technical and logistical moving parts. We have been working hard to ensure that the rollout has been smooth and to make adjustments as required.”
