The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF), in partnership with the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) and the National Department of Health, is calling on all journalists to get their COVID-19 vaccination.

The call follows the Health Ministry’s announcement on Friday that media practitioners can get inoculated at their nearest vaccination site.

The media vaccination programme caters for all age groups of the sector, including journlists under the age of 35.

“Journalists above 34 – 60 years of age are still urged to get vaccinated and self-register on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) due to their eligibility (sic),” GCIS and SANEF said in a joint statement.

Government has concluded a bulk upload for registration of all journalists, who have responded to the call to submit their details through the GCIS facilitated process. Emails will be sent out to all individual journalists, and media houses to confirm their registration on the EVDS.

Individual SMSes will not be sent through the bulk registration system.

Government has thanked the media sector – from the mainstream, community, online/digital, broadcasting, to print as well as freelancers – for participating in the registration process, which took less than a month.

“Provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo are already taking advantage of the role the media plays in society by vaccinating journalists, and ensuring that they help encourage young and old in the country to voluntarily participate in the national vaccination project.

“This is also helping dispel misinformation and myths about the efficacy of vaccines. The partnership between SANEF, GCIS and the Health Department has proven that a lot can be achieved through cooperation.”

Source: South African Government News Agency