MEC Madoda Sambatha on the 2 million vaccines administered milestone for the North West province

The North West Department of Health MEC Madoda Sambatha is elated by the 2 million vaccine administered milestone achieved by the province early this week. The North West Province is edging closer to its target of inoculating 2,7 million community members against Covid-19.

“We are truly motivated by the strides made so far to administer COVID-19 vaccines to all eligible individuals, however I would like to convey my plea to communities, especially the youth in the province to continue to visit various vaccination sites and get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. The Omicron variant of COVID-19 remains dominant in the country and it accounts to 99.2% of all positive cases reported according to the National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD)” said MEC Madoda Sambatha

The North West Province bridged the 2 million mark of the vaccines administered on 13 March 2022 which is almost a year since the roll-out of the vaccination campaign in this province.

“The North West Province remains one of the provinces with the lowest intake of vaccine among its communities despite more efforts being made to expand access to vaccine with 131 active vaccination sites across the province. Alarmingly our youth seems to be reluctant to get vaccinated and more efforts are made with targeted campaigns like #KeReady to pursuit them to come on board” lamented Madoda Sambatha.

The North West Province is currently experiencing 10.5% of COVID-19 infection rate with children between the age of 18 -34 as majority of these cases. The province is performing badly on the vaccination with an average of 2500 vaccines administered daily, therefore an intense efforts are needed to ramp up the vaccination drive.

“Currently we have administered 2 014 324 million doses of vaccine and this is still a far cry to the provincial target of 2.7 million people we need to reach and protect against the possible emergence of the fifth wave of COVID-19 infections. Therefore through the #KeReady, I am ready campaign we wish to mobilise more youth to be empowered and educated on the importance of taking the vaccine” added Sambatha.

The province has a total number of 192 071 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported with 186 580 people having recovered from the virus and this translates to 97.1% (against the national figure of 96.8%). The province has 780 active cases and has recorded 4711 Covid-19 related deaths to date.

“By vaccinating you reduce your chance of getting severe COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation and dying. So, please we urge you to visit any vaccination site for your 1st, 2nd and or your Booster shot. COVID-19 is still with us therefore you are all urged not lower your guards and continue to adhere to all Covid-19 preventative protocols” concluded Madoda Sambatha

Source: Government of South Africa