President Cyril Ramaphosa is today visiting two Gauteng vaccination sites to assess progress in South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout programme.

In a statement, the Presidency said the President’s visit will serve to motivate greater numbers of South Africans to embrace vaccination as the most effective weapon in the fight against COVID-19.

COVID-19 vaccines are a safe and effective defence against serious illness, hospitalisation and death.

“The President will visit a public health facility in Tembisa and a private-public partnership centre in Midrand in recognition of the close collaboration between government, the private sector and active support of social partners. This partnership has enabled South Africa’s vaccination programme to gather pace,” said the Presidency on Thursday.

Under this programme, the number of vaccinated people now exceeds seven million with around a million people being vaccinated every week.

“More than 1 500 volunteers comprising doctors, nurses and health workers have been brought on board to help with vaccination on weekends on various sites across all nine provinces. Doing away with sectoral prioritisation and moving to the age-based approach has proven more effective in reaching a wider spectrum of South Africans,” the Presidency said.

Source: South African Government News Agency