The Deputy Minister of Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo calls for a stronger partnership between the governments, private sector including major sports coordinating bodies to ramp up vaccination in the country.

This follows his participation during intergovernmental vaccination rollout programme led by the Department of Monitoring and Evaluation, and Free State Provincial Government in partnership with the South African professional rugby union team Cheetahs in Mangaung, Free State Province on Monday.

Deputy Minister Dhlomo was encouraged by the turnout of people who included members of the rugby club, players and fans who displayed a high level of vaccine acceptance when they vaccinated in numbers. He called for this kind of partnership to be extended to other sporting codes such as soccer and cricket, which can be the starting point for fans to return to stadia and watch their beloved clubs.

“Of course, we are not yet there but this significant milestone by the Free State Government and Cheetahs today, which if it is rolled out across the country involving other sporting codes like soccer, cricket will go a long way towards improving the statistics of vaccinations to reach our targets as the country”, said Dr Dhlomo.

The Deputy Minister also appealed to the rugby players to use their influence to encourage their fans to follow their examples which will ensure they have an uninterrupted season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: Government of South Africa