Covid19: Over 60 Year Olds Will Be Paid to Vaccinate from 1 November
- The South African Department of Health has announced a program to incentivise people over 60 to receive the Covid-19 vaccine
- On Monday, 1 November 2021, there will be an opportunity to receive the vaccine at over 1 000 voting stations countrywide
- From 8 November 2021, healthcare workers who took part in the Johnson & Johnson trial will be able to receive a booster shot
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To boost vaccination efforts, the Department of Health will incentivise South Africans over 60 years old to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
The department will give "Vooma Vouchers" to people over 60 who receive the Covid-19 vaccine from Monday 1 November 2021 onwards. These vouchers will be received via SMS and can be gifted to others at the recipient's discretion.
Vooma Vouchers can be redeemed at any Shoprite, USave or Checkers store. The department said they intend on extending the programme to people over 50 years old shortly.
Source: Getty Images
How Vooma Vouchers work
According to Business Insider, after receiving the vaccine, people over the age of 60 will get an SMS asking for their consent to create a Shoprite account on their behalf, which will require them to provide their passport ID number.
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Vooma Vouchers are valid for 30 days and can be used to purchase groceries, mobile data, and electricity. There will initially be enough vouchers available for 260 000 people, distributed on a first-come-first-served basis.
Although it must be noted that these vouchers carry two conditions. Firstly, they can not be exchanged for cash and secondly, they only apply to those being vaccinated for the first time. People over the age of 60 who receive their second dose of the Phizer vaccine from 1 November 2021 do not qualify.
Health workers to receive booster shots
Moneyweb has reported that healthcare workers who participated in the Johnson & Johnson trial earlier in the year will be able to receive an additional dose of the vaccine as a booster shot from 8 November 2021.
This initiative is one of many to increase the South African vaccination rate. In addition, there will be more than 1 000 pop-up vaccination sites at voting stations countrywide on municipal election day, 1 November 2021.
The Nandos Group has pledged to award R500 000 in vouchers to the vaccination site, which best performs on election day.
South Africans react to vaccine incentives
The news of vaccine incentives caused a stir on social media. Here are a few reactions to the initiative:
@RMorakane said:
"This is becoming more shady by the day…why are people not paid for taking ARVs?"
@MaganoMerriam said:
"Wow,seems the government is so desperate for everyone to vaccinate."
@mys_sir_paul said:
"People will be rushing to get their parents/grandparents vaxed then taking that guap to themselves especially on Fridays."
@_marksandiso said:
Oh man let me wait till my age group i need about 50k
Malema expresses his thoughts on the vaccine
Earlier in the week, Briefly News reported on a tweet by Julius Malema, which expressed why he decided to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Julius Malema told scores of people that he got vaccinated after Israel's vaccination drive. Israel vaccinated a record number of people in a short time, the country took the Covid 19 threat extremely seriously.
Malema said that he got the jab when he realised how serious the Jewish people were taking the pandemic, and according to him, "Jews don't play with their lives".
Source: Briefly News
