Pretoria - People aged 60 and above and men in general were still hesitant to get vaccinated in large numbers due to negative stories shared about the vaccines.
This was the concern expressed by Gauteng Premier David Makhura during his visit to the newly-launched vaccination site in Saulsville, which has the capacity to vaccinate 2 000 people per day.
The visit came after a meeting of the provincial command council earlier in the week to assess and analyse the vaccination programme in all the districts.
"Today we are on a vaccination site visit. We are doing site inspections to check how our vaccination programme is going in the City of Tshwane," he said.
Makhura said the provincial government wanted to double the number of people who are vaccinated per day.
"Currently we are vaccinating an average 53 000 people a day. We want to vaccinate 100 000 people a day in Gauteng," Makhura said.
He stressed that the intention of the government vaccination programme was to reach the elderly people first.
"We are extremely worried about the older people in our communities, who have not even come for their first dose," he said.
Makhura said the plan was to target the elderly when they come to the social grant payout point, which is a stone's throw away from the local vaccination centre.
He was also concerned about the low number of men who were coming through to get their vaccine shots.
"We must commend women during this month that women are really coming out in large numbers to vaccinate," he said.
In dispelling the myths around the vaccines, Makhura said: "I am one of the people who vaccinated in July. I took my vaccine. I had to wait for my turn. I was vaccinated and I am still around. Yes, I had a bit of a headache like many who were vaccinated," Makhura said.
According to him, the number of people coming for vaccinations in Gauteng was still too low relative to the size of the adult population.
"We are not happy with the current performance of our vaccination and vaccination centres," he said.
He said the areas of concern were particularly in Tshwane and Johannesburg, where the adult population was not coming out in big numbers for inoculation.
"We do want to make sure that we reach those aged 60 and above because those are the people at greatest risk, they are the most vulnerable," Makhura said.
Very soon, the site in Saulsville sports arena would have a drive-through option for the public.
Pretoria News