GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Three new Covid-19-related deaths and 156 new cases were reported in the week up to Tuesday 23 March, compared with nine deaths and 102 new cases in the previous week.
The number of active cases is continuing its downward trend with 300 recorded active cases as at 23 March, compared with 310 the previous week.
The Garden Route district has to date vaccinated 680 healthcare workers since rolling out its vaccination plan on 3 March at George Hospital, according to Zee Brickles, Garden Route and Central Karoo health director.
"We are happy to report that our first two weeks of vaccinations went without major hiccups and we have used 100% of the allocated vaccines. We thank the staff who have received the vaccination, who despite experiencing mild side-effects, still showed up for work in order to provide a health service to our clients."
He said the overall intent of the vaccination roll-out is to prevent severe illness and death and to protect the health system, but asked the public to not become complacent. "We want to remind the public of the need for continued Covid-19 vigilance in order to prevent a third wave."
12 760 vaccines arrive in province
On Monday 22 March, the Western Cape Health Department announced that it has received a further 12 760 vaccines as part of its third tranche allocation of 18 080 vaccines. Once all the doses of the third tranche have arrived, it will bring the total number of vaccines received in the J&J Sisonke implementation study to 44 040.
During phase 1 of vaccination, only healthcare workers who wish to take up vaccination can register on the national Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) at https://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za.
'Wider population vaccination likely from May onwards'
Brickles said their current planning is to roll out phases 2 and 3 in the second quarter. "This will be likely from May onwards. We are working hard to put all the systems in place to roll out these phases as soon as approved vaccines arrive. These phases will cover larger numbers of residents and will include other frontline services, people in congregate settings, essential workers, those at risk due to age or comorbidity, and finally, in phase 3, the general adult population. Currently, we request non-healthcare staff not to register on the EVDS. We will inform the public when they can start registering on the system."
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