Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa has commended the more than 353 000 people who heeded the call to be vaccinated against COVID-19 during the first Vooma Vaccination Weekend on Friday and Saturday.
The number of vaccine doses administered during the weekend was one and a half times the normal daily rate.
Vooma Vaccination Weekends aim to mobilise citizens and people living in South Africa to get vaccinated as a means to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The public and private health sectors organised labour and business, and community-and faith-based formations and traditional leaders have joined forces to mobilise communities to take up these additional opportunities.
The Vooma campaign is also aimed at helping South Africa ensure that 70 percent of the population is vaccinated by the end of December.
“We can all be proud of the more than 350 000 people who seized this opportunity to get vaccinated during hours that were convenient for everyone. We would have liked this number to be higher but this was a very surge towards greater protection of our nation,” President Ramaphosa said.
“I thank leaders from all sectors of society who successfully mobilised communities to protect themselves.
“We also applaud our healthcare workers in the public and private sectors who spent a big part of their weekend on the frontline to administer life-saving vaccines to the nation.
“I hope the success of our first Vooma Vaccination Weekend will inspire unvaccinated people to step forward every day of the week and during our Vooma weekends to be vaccinated. Let’s keep up this effort and ensure inspire who continue to go the extra mile to keep our nation safe,” the President said.
Vaccines are safe and easy to receive. They protect people against serious illness, hospitalisation, and death. And when the majority of people in the country are vaccinated, the nation will experience a greater sense of freedom and safety in social interactions and economic activity.
People wishing to be vaccinated simply need to visit a vaccination centre without needing an appointment and present an identity document that will allow them to be registered and vaccinated immediately and free of charge.
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