Covid-19: More than 184 000 children vaccinated in two weeks – health department

5th November 2021 By: News24Wire

Covid-19: More than 184 000 children vaccinated in two weeks – health department

More than 184 000 children have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in just over two weeks.

The vaccination programme opened to children from the ages of 12 to 17 on 20 October. In the first three days, more than 35 000 children received the vaccines.

By Thursday, 184 222 children in the age cohort had received the jab. According to the Department of Health, 13 569 vaccines were administered on Thursday alone.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla previously said administering vaccines to children would ensure that households achieve immunity against the disease and result in fewer disruptions during the end-of-year school examination period.

All children aged 12 and older are eligible to receive one dose of the Pfizer vaccine. They do not need a parent's consent to do so.

Gauteng is leading the pack with 43 127 vaccinated children, followed by the Western Cape with 31 398 vaccinated children. In KwaZulu-Natal, 21 225 children have been vaccinated, and 20 347 doses have been administered to children in the Eastern Cape.

The department hopes to vaccinate at least half of this age group by the start of the school holidays.

To date, 22 965 123 vaccines have been administered to both adults and children in the country.

According to the Department of Health, 12 737 665 adults are fully vaccinated – around 32% of the adult population.