Excitement and relief as 18 to 34 year olds queue for their jab
Many 18 to 34 year olds across the country wasted no time in joining the queue for their Covid-19 vaccinations today, Friday August 20.
Registration for this age group was only meant to start on September 1 but the vaccination roll out was brought forward this week.
The news has brought relief to some.
“My life has been at a complete stand still ever since the pandemic started and being a student is not what it was as we do everything from home with online learning, at times it feels very depressing”, said second-year UWC industrial psychology student, Erin Poole.
Ms Poole, 20, said many of the students in their class only experienced student life for a few months and now they are almost getting ready to graduate.
She plans to walk in at a vaccination site for her jab on Monday.
Natalie Watlington, principal communications officer for the Department of Health, said figures for the week ending on August 18 showed that the highest number of infections was in the age group 21 to 30, with 79 310 active cases.
Queues at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) snaked all the way around the building today, but this did not deter those who were determined to get their jab.
Student advisor, Alex April, 29, said he stood in the queue for over three hours. “During the time I kept on seeing tweets about Athlone and Pinelands (vaccination sites) being a lot quicker, but I stuck it out.
“In the end it was worth it of course, once I got into the CTICC it was smooth sailing, I had no issues and within 20 minutes I was done.”
Audit clerk, Chelsea Meyer, 24, went for her jab at Sanlam Head Office in Bellville and could not contain her excitement.
She said there were separate walk-in queues at Sanlam Head Office as some made bookings and others, like her, did a walk-in. She said there were six people ahead of her who had to be screened, but it was not that much of a hassle.
“I was done in one hour, including my 15-minute waiting period after. The process was quick and easy, the screening however, could have been quicker, but the nurses were very nice and were very helpful in easing the nerves.
“I am so glad that we could finally get our jab, initially I was very nervous but it was a great experience. My arm is just a little sore,” Ms Meyer said.
If you are 18 and older, register for your Covid-19 vaccine by clicking on the following link:
https://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za/#/