Gauteng Premier says vaccination numbers are far too low in Soweto

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Gauteng Premier David Makhura has raised concern at the low number of people that have so far been vaccinated in Soweto.

Makhura visted Dobsonville, on a vaccination drive on Monday:

So far 3.6 million people have vaccinated against the coronavirus in Gauteng, but he says with the looming 4th wave, these numbers are too low.

Soweto which is densely populated, has recorded just over 100 000 people who have been vaccinated.

He says although Johannesburg is doing better than other regions in the province, with 1.1 million people fully vaccinated, most of these numbers are from suburban areas while townships lag seriously behind.

“For us to reach the level that we are comfortable with, we need to vaccinate at least 700 000 people in Soweto. The townships are lagging behind; we have the lowest vaccinations in the south of Johannesburg. We are doing much better with the vaccinations in Alexandra. We are also not doing too well in the CBD.”

Johannesburg MMC for Health and Social Development, Eunice Mngcina says some people in the townships are reluctant to vaccinate as they listen to myths about the vaccine.

She says they are on an awareness drive to educate people.

“We are always on the ground making sure there’s education. The problem is our people are not responding because of the myths out there. We do explain to our residents but the turnout is still low. The 70% target is what we have been working on, but we might not reach our target, the only hope is engaging with our communities and get the people out of their houses.”

Makhura says the looming 4th wave is cause for concern: “The 4th wave is something we are worried about. We have seen in different parts of the world that when you have elections and things open up, the infection rate becomes high. But if we had more vaccinations, we wouldn’t be worried. We would be happier if we had 60% but we have a long way to go.”

5 months ago