South Africa's non-banking financial services group Sanlam has announced that its vaccination sites are ready to vaccinate citizens between the ages of 50 and 59.
The country is gearing up to vaccine citizens over the age of 50 years, and the registration for vaccines opened on July 1.
The sites are at the Sanlam offices in Bellville and Houghton, and Woodstock, Centurion, Roodepoort and Durban. They are established in collaboration with Sanlam’s health-care partner, AfroCentric.
Covid-19 vaccines are available around the country to people aged 60 and older, health-care workers, and teachers. The National Department of Health recently announced that citizens aged between 50 and 59 years would be eligible for vaccination from 15 July.
On Thursday, Sanlam Life and Savings chief executive Jurie Strydom hosted a site visit for Western Cape MEC for Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier, at the Bellville vaccination facility and encouraged people to register for their vaccinations.
“Since the onset of Covid-19, Sanlam has been at the forefront of fighting the devastating impacts of this pandemic through interventions such as donations to the Solidarity Fund, support to our intermediaries, and premium holidays for our clients. Setting up the vaccination sites is an extension of that commitment.
“Over the last few weeks we have vaccinated over 10 000 people at our sites in line with the vaccine roll-out protocols, and we are ready to scale up further. The next phase of registrations for vaccination begins today, and it’s imperative that as many people as possible heed the call to register and vaccinate. We believe this is a critical measure to see us through this pandemic and boost our country’s recovery,” he said.
Strydom said since the opening, the facilities and protocols had been tested and refined.
“It’s important that large private-sector employers play their part as an extension of South Africa’s vaccine programme so we can encourage every eligible person to get vaccinated and to experience for themselves that the process is smooth and effective,” he added.
Speaking after visiting the Sanlam vaccination site, Maynier said there had never been a time when effective collaboration between public and private sectors was more crucial.
“The Sanlam vaccination centres are some of the many examples of the extensive support and buy-in from the private sector to work with government to encourage the registration and roll-out of Covid-19 vaccinations in the Western Cape.
“The fact is that economic recovery depends on vaccinating as many people as fast as possible, because with more jabs, there will be more jobs in the Western Cape. We are grateful to the private sector for their commitment to support the vaccine roll-out strategy, and we look forward to working with the private sector so that together we can rebuild the economy and create jobs in the Western Cape,” said Maynier.
The company the sites followed national protocols. Those in groups currently eligible for vaccination must register on the EVDS system that can be accessed from www.sacoronavirus.co.za.
"The system will allocate a date and time at the vaccination site closest to the individual. Citizens who have registered on the EVDS but have not yet been allocated an appointment may receive a vaccine – however, this does depend on whether those with bookings have been served," Sanlam said.
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