Covid19: The Department of Health Ready to Start Vaccinating Under 35s

• Individuals under the age of 35 could soon go in and get their coronavirus vaccine way before 1 September
• This is according to the Department of Health's deputy director-general Dr Nicholas Crisp, who says the department is ready to start vaccinating the next age group
• The Democratic Alliance has also made the call for the health sector to open up registrations for under 35s immediately

JOHANNESBURG - Deputy Director-General of the Department of Health Dr Nicholas Crisp says the department is ready to start administrating the Covid-19 vaccine to individuals between the ages of 18 and 34 soon.

The initial announcement was that individuals under 35 would eligible to get the vaccine from 1 September. However, Crisp says the health sector is in the position to make vaccines available to this age group much sooner, according to SABC News.

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Crisp added that a decision still needs to be made about opening up vaccines earlier than anticipated and that discussions are still to be held. He went on to say that the department was ready to start vaccinating.

“We are ready, no matter what the decision is, we will be ready to implement,” added Crisp.

Crisp says the announcement about the changed date could be made on Wednesday.

DA calls for Covid-19 vaccine registration opened for under 35s

The Democratic Alliance wants registration for vaccination for individuals over the age of 18 to be opened up immediately, according to a report by News24.

Siviwe Gwarube, DA spokesperson says more people should be given access to the vaccine since the Department of Health indicated that the country does not currently have a Covid-19 shortage and the only stumbling block for the vaccination programme is the dwindling numbers of people going in for the jab.

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"That is why the DA is calling on the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, to immediately facilitate the opening of registration and rollout for those over the age of 18," she said.

Millions of Covid19 vaccines produced in SA are reportedly being exported to Europe

Briefly News previously reported that reports have revealed that Johnson & Johnson has been exporting millions of Covid-19 vaccines for distribution in Europe. The vaccines are packaged and bottled in South Africa by manufacturer Aspen Pharmacare.

The New York Times revealed that it has seen export records from Aspen and the SA government. J&J reportedly agreed to sell a substantial amount of its single-shot vaccine to assist with inoculating one-third of Africa's population.

The fact that the vaccine is being produced by Aspen Pharmacare created hope that the doses will go to people on the continent, according to SABC News. The report by the well-known publication went on to explain that SA is also paying more for Covid-19 vaccines than countries in the European Union are.

The NY Times went on to state that Mzansi is currently waiting on a large number of the 31 million doses of the J&J vaccine that were ordered. At the moment, only around two million doses of the vaccine have been administered.

Source: Briefly News