Six million vaccine doses doled out in Gauteng

As the festive season creeps closer, there was a sense of optimism among medical healthcare workers about the total number of people who received the vaccine.

The Gauteng government yesterday announced it has administered more than six million vaccines.

Vaccine rollout in Gauteng

In all, 3 986 104 individuals were partially vaccinated, while 3 108 519 people who were fully vaccinated – either receiving both doses of the Pfizer vaccine or a single Johnson & Johnson vaccine out of a total of 6 119 286.

DA Gauteng shadow health MEC Jack Bloom said although it was good news that 6 million people were vaccinated in the province, only half of the vulnerable over-60s were fully vaccinated.

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“The province lags behind other provinces. There are a million people who have not come back for their second vaccination and outreach efforts should be intensified. We need to have 10 million adults fully vaccinated in Gauteng, so there is a long way to go.”

A nurse who agreed to speak anonymously said the vaccine roll-out programme definitely helped in reducing the infections.

She said patients being admitted now were mostly not vaccinated, with a few exceptions.

“We will have to wait and see what happens in the fourth wave. I think the third wave came and passed so quickly with the rollout plan it was hard to see a difference,” she said.

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Joburg-based general practitioner Dr Leon Odendaal said although vaccines were no guarantee you wouldn’t get infected with Covid, it was close to perfect insurance against severe infection.

He said that meant even if you caught the virus you wouldn’t end up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on a ventilator.

“We, the medical profession, are therefore hoping for very much reduced hospitalisations during a possible fourth
wave,” Odendaal said.

Cape Town general practitioner Dr Anastacia Tomson-Myburgh said she also noticed fewer infections.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za