Cape Town - As Covid-19 cases continue to increase among the under 20-year-olds, the provincial Health Department is launching another campaign to get more people vaccinated with the co-operation of pubs and other businesses where people socialise.
In its latest surveillance report, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said that as at the end of last week an increase in the weekly incidence of new cases among people under the age of 20 had been reported for the past five weeks.
The report said: “This could be explained by clusters reported from schools, following reopening of private and public schools, as well as transmission in the community as this increase preceded school opening in some provinces.”
The NICD said the increase in cases in children in the third wave could in part be driven by the immunity gap in this age group as adults were more affected than children in the first two waves.
Meanwhile, to mark the first day of spring, Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo has invited the18 years and over age group to the Rands entertainment spot in Khayelitsha, where she will be launching the provincial government’s #JabsB4Jol vaccine campaign today at 10am.
Mbombo said the province’s objective was to take the vaccine to where young people were.
Speaking at the launch of UCT's Community of Hope vaccine site at the university’s Forest Hill residence complex in Mowbray yesterday, she said: “I always say our strength lies in partnerships. We need collaborations that will ensure that we vaccinate many people within a short space of time thus ensuring that we save many lives and we save the fragile health system and the health-care workers that are on the brink of burn out.”
Attending the event, Premier Alan Winde said. “To those young people who have not yet been vaccinated, I encourage you to make use of your vaccine opportunity so that we can once again do the things we love, be with the people we love, and go to the places we love.”
UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng said, “We want our students, staff members and the community in our vicinity to have the protection the vaccine provides against the worst possible effects of Covid-19."
