News

OVERBERG COVID-19 VACCINATION WEEKLY UPDATE

To date, we have vaccinated 38 760 persons in the Overberg District, this includes health workers (as part of the Sisonke trial) and educators.

We urge any citizen 60 years and older who has not registered, or have not received an appointment, to please go to their closest public vaccination site for assisted registration and vaccination. The first dose for 60-year and older remains the highest priority at the moment. This age group is our most vulnerable and we need to do everything we can to protect them, by ensuring their immune system can fight off severe illness by being vaccinated.

The EVDS system will continue to allocate available appointment slots in the following order of priority:

Priority 1 - people 60 years and older requiring their 1st dose of Pfizer vaccine;

Priority 2 - people 60 years and older requiring their 2nd dose of Pfizer vaccine;

Priority 3 - people aged 50 -59 years requiring their 1st dose of Pfizer vaccine;

Priority 4 – people aged 35-49 years with a valid appointment SMS, requiring their 1st dose of Pfizer vaccine.

As usual, a limited number of walk-ins (over 60s will be prioritised) will be accommodated at the vaccination sites. Not all vaccination sites will have equal capacity on the day to tend to all appointments or walk ins, and our total vaccinations will be guided by local demand at that specific site.

When visiting a vaccination site please remember your identification document, if you need to receive your second dose, please remember your vaccination card received when you got your first dose. All vaccinations sites in the Overberg will be operational on scheduled dates between 09:00 – 14:00. It is not necessary to queue at vaccination sites earlier than operational times.

The Department has identified several areas where there is low registration and uptake of vaccination. We are working with a range of partners to on innovative initiatives through which we can take vaccines to the vulnerable communities, making vaccination easier accessible for them. These outreaches and community mobilization drives include:

• Outreaches to old age homes to administer second doses;

• Outreaches to remote farms;

• Vaccinations at chronic clubs;

• “Boots on the Ground drives” where Community Health Works do door to door registrations;

• Vaccination of the bedridden in their homes.

Temporary service delivery changes at Health facilities

Although we can see a slight decline in active COVID-19 cases our facilities are still under pressure and needs to continue reducing the amount of patient contact in our facilities. This means certain non-emergency service will be scaled down. Changes in the current service delivery offering include:

Non-urgent outpatient appointments will be postponed, and patients given alternative dates;

Non-urgent elective surgery will be postponed, and patients provided with a later date;

Patients who are in hospital but are stable will be discharged for further management at home or at an intermediate care facility;

Outreaches from Districts and Regional hospitals will be suspended; and

Patients are urged to only access the Emergency Centre for emergencies. Non-emergencies to access healthcare services at nearest clinic.

We understand this might be an inconvenience to some, but it is important to remember why we are doing this – to ensure we have sufficient capacity to provide emergency medical care to those with life-threatening conditions and those who are admitted with COVID-19.

ENDS

For media queries contact:

Roché Butler

Communications Officer

Overberg District

Western Cape Government: Health

Tel: +27 28 214 5833

Cell: +27 68 074 2455

E-mail: Roche.Butler@westerncape.gov.za

Website: www.westerncape.gov.za