S.Africa: 18-35 Year Olds to be vaccinated!
Earlier than expected opening comes amid concerns about SA’s slowing vaccination rate, especially among older age groups.
The government has confirmed that Covid-19 vaccinations for young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 years will open from Friday, August 20.
This follows a Cabinet meeting this week, in which the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) recommended the move, amid slowing vaccination rates among older age groups.
“Cabinet welcome[s] the vaccination rollout plan to increase the uptake of vaccines, particularly in provinces that had shown a reduction in the uptake of vaccines. As part of increasing the vaccination rollout programme, Cabinet approved the vaccination of persons aged between 18 and 35 years from August 20, 2021,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
“Cabinet received the report from the NCCC indicating that over nine million vaccines have been administered in South Africa to date, with over seven million people partially vaccinated and over four million fully vaccinated.”
“Scientific evidence confirms that vaccinated people stand a better chance of surviving Covid-19 than unvaccinated people. Therefore, we must all dispel the unfounded and misleading conspiracy theories about the vaccines and choose life by vaccinating,” Cabinet reiterated in the statement.
“Cabinet encourages all unvaccinated people in South Africa to get vaccinated because vaccines protect us from getting seriously ill from Covid-19 and they save lives.”
Meanwhile, Cabinet further approved keeping the country under the Risk-Adjusted Alert Level 3 of the national lockdown, following an advisory from the Ministerial Advisory Committee.