CAPE TOWN - Despite criticism that the use of English and online access would result in low uptake to SA’s electronic vaccination data system (EVDS) in rural areas in particular, the department is recording the opposite effect.
According to Dr. Nicholas Crisp, who is overseeing the EVDS portal: “Our best registration figures are from the rural provinces and from people who we thought would have problems using gadgets and following the English language. Limpopo province has by far registered the greatest proportions of their 60-year-olds. We are getting about 50 000 new over-60 registrations a day,” he said.
Crisp added that it was in fact the urban areas where they were having the lowest registrations.
More than 405 000 Limpopo residents had registered and 144 899 have been vaccinated so far. The provincial department of health says it allows walk-ins, but those with an appointment are given priority.
With the phase 2 Covid-19 vaccine rollout, now in its third week, the department of health says there are nearly 3,5 million people currently registered on the system. The figure also includes those who registered in phase 1.
On Tuesday, the department’s director-general Dr Sandile Buthelezi said that the country had officially vaccinated over 1 million senior citizens aged 60 years and above under phase two.
“We must convey our appreciation to the senior citizens who have, and continue, to come forward in their numbers to be vaccinated.The passed an important milestone by reaching more than one million people at the start of June,” he said.
Meanwhile, a new registration portal called V4hcw has been opened for health professionals, which is able to verify that they work in the health sector, he said. The portal uses a practice number to verify them and then directs them to the EVDS.