According to the bishop, Dr Ezekiel Mathole, the church’s national leadership started talks with the Department of Health to make all its churches available as vaccination sites some time ago. This is part of the church’s numerous initiatives to contribute to the battle against Covid-19.
“We wanted to be part of the solution rather than the problem,” he says, adding that the church had taken an official stance on vaccinations. “We don’t think anyone who is vaccinated is violating the Bible, neither do we think that people who don’t vaccinate are wrong and evil. We believe that vaccination and medicine are a gift from God. So are the work and protocols of the medical people with no ulterior motive. We are only interested in saving lives and making sure we go back to normality and stop the loss of jobs due to Covid-19. We have seen in our church how people who were independent before, have lost their income because of Covid,” he says.
Dr Mathole confirmed that the drive-through vaccination site in Carletonville is the second of its kind in the province. The first was established at the Grace Bible Church in Pimville, Soweto recently.
The site was opened on Saturday and drew 110 people for vaccinations on that day.
According to the Gauteng Department of Health, all eligible people of 18 years and older can go to the new drive-through site to get their vaccinations. It is also manned by government medical staff and the same steps are followed as at other vaccination sites. The only difference is that those who go for vaccinations at the drive-through site don’t even have to get out of their vehicles.
This makes the process faster than at the usual sites. However, chairs are also available for people without vehicles to be vaccinated at the new site.
