U.S. Government, NDoH celebrate COVID-19 Vaccine Partnership

Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, and U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Heather Merritt will this week announce a surge of support to South Africa through Global VAX in Pietermaritzburg, in the district of UMgungundlovu, KwaZulu-Natal on Friday June 3, 2022.

Global VAX is a U.S. Government effort to contribute to the global goal to vaccinate 70 percent of the population of every country against COVID-19 in 2022. This approach builds on the extraordinary commitment President Biden has made to donate more than 1.2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of 2022 and intensifies United States’ efforts to get shots in arms.

Through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Government is planning to donate nearly 800 million rand (over $49 million) to support the Government of South Africa’s efforts to vaccinate South Africans in every corner of the country.

As part of ongoing efforts to increase access to COVID-19 vaccine, the Department of Health and Right-to-Care, supported by USAID, have developed a web-based app called FindMyJab.co.za to make it easy for South Africans to locate vaccination site closer to their places of work or residence.

The app is accessible from any device and includes the name of vaccination site, address, contact information and operating hours of sites across the country. Once you enter your location, you will see a list of sites closest to you, including the pop-up sites

The event serves to celebrate the partnership between the governments and people of South Africa and the United States of America.

The U.S. Government supports a diverse array of activities, including providing quick, safe, and equitable access to vaccines.

The launch will be in the form of a community event, including door-to-door community engagement, led by a delegation consisting of the Minister of Health and leadership of the U.S. Government in South Africa.

This will be followed by dialogues with the community, and their leadership to discuss structural barriers to vaccination uptake and how to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

Source: Government of South Africa