All vaccination sites in the Cape Winelands District, including those in Stellenbosch, recently began administering Covid-19 vaccines to residents over the age of 18.
This was according to Sandra Maritz, Cape Winelands District communications officer for the Western Cape Health Department (WCHD). The South African Cabinet approved the rollout of vaccines for citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 years old from 20 August, in order to increase the uptake of vaccines across the country, according to a government media release on 19 August.
Covid-19 vaccinations are an important measure in keeping the loss of lives due to the virus to a minimum, according to Sandra Maritz, Cape Winelands District communications officer for the Western Cape Health Department (WCHD). “Since the first people in the Stellenbosch area tested positive for COVID-19, 314 people from here passed away, 2 172 in the bigger Cape Winelands area and close to 17 000 in the Western Cape (as of 18 August 2021),” said Maritz in email correspondence with MatieMedia. PHOTO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
“[The National Department of Health] determines when different age groups become eligible for registration and vaccination,” said Maritz in email correspondence with MatieMedia. “We want to vaccinate as many people as possible in the shortest space of time.”
Lentelus clubhouse vaccination site
A large number of Stellenbosch University (SU) students queued to be vaccinated at the SU vaccination site, which is in the Lentelus clubhouse at the university’s soccer complex in Hammanshand Road, from 08:00 on 20 August. This was according to Dr Jo-Anne Kirby, the site coordinator for the university vaccination site.
Between 09:00 and 11:00, staff at the Lentelus clubhouse vaccination site administer vaccines to those with bookings through the Electronic Vaccination Data System or the Stellenbosch University (SU) staff system, according to Dr Jo-Anne Kirby, the site coordinator for the SU vaccination site. The site provides vaccinations for walk-ins from 11:00, she added. PHOTO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
“It was a little bit chaotic in the morning,” said Kirby, with reference to walk-ins on 20 August, after it had been announced that those between the ages of 18 and 34 could receive vaccinations. “The official communication was that walk-ins come from 11:00, but they started appearing from 08:00.”
The vaccination site began the day with 10 vials of the vaccine, which allowed for 60 shots, according to Kirby. By 11:00, the 10 vials were finished. The site received a further 10 vials at 12:00, after which they opened for walk-ins once more, she said.
“There was that time period where we didn’t know whether we could get more [vaccines] or not, because the planning was from 1 September for these additional numbers. So [the site] wasn’t booked to have more,” explained Kirby.
The Lentelus clubhouse vaccination site has four stations at which to administer vaccines. At one of these stations, Sr Libby Pool (left), a vaccinator at the site, administers the vaccine to Henry Johnston (right), a mechatronic engineering student at Stellenbosch University, on 20 August. PHOTO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
The students at the vaccination site were relieved to be able to receive the vaccine, according to Johann Dippenaar, a third-year drama student at SU.
“I think everyone feels very relieved,” said Dippenaar. “The sooner we can start living the way that we are used to living, the better.”
Ilse Rossouw (left), a third-year language and culture student at Stellenbosch University (SU), and Johann Dippenaar (right), a third-year drama student at SU, were at the Lentelus clubhouse vaccination site from 07:30 on 20 August, with the aim of getting their Covid-19 vaccinations. PHOTO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
The importance of youth vaccinations
There is potential for younger people to become quite ill if they contract Covid-19, especially the Delta variant of the virus, according to Prof Keymanthri Moodley, the director of the Centre of Medical Ethics and Law at SU.
“[Y]ounger people tend to hang out in settings where there are many other people close together. For example, university lecture halls, university campuses, but also night clubs, restaurants, concerts,” said Moodley. “They tend to operate within a high-risk environment, which places them at risk of contracting Covid…which is why a vaccine would be a very good idea.”
It is the responsibility of all adults in society to get the Covid-19 vaccine, “irrespective of their personal issues”, according to Prof Keymanthri Moodley, the director of the Centre of Medical Ethics and Law at SU. “This is a pandemic. It affects the whole world, it affects everybody…and so we have to look at thinking about the common good rather than individual rights,” said Moodley. PHOTO: Tamsin Metelerkamp