Bid to accelerate vaccination in Nelson Mandela Bay with new centre
Image: Supplied
In a bid to accelerate a fast vaccine rollout, Momentum Metropolitan has opened a new mass vaccination centre in Gqeberha.
This comes after Nelson Mandela Bay entered its third wave of Covid-19 infections.
To date, the metro has recorded 67,036 positive Covid-19 cases, with 3,589 deaths as of Tuesday last week.
According to Momentum chief executive Damian McHugh the mass vaccination centre is aimed at vaccinating 1,000 people daily, if it is allocated enough vaccines.
“We were not aware of any mass vaccination centres in the Eastern Cape when we investigated where to establish our next site.
“As a result, we thought establishing a centre here would add significant value to the community and support the county’s rollout strategy, as we have done in the other regions,” he said.
The facility, which is reported to be one of the largest in the Eastern Cape, is situated in Richmond Hill, boasting 12 registered nurses, two pharmacists and 10 administrative staff.
“It has all the critical aspects required for a centre — accessibility, parking, security, and space for the people coming to ensure parking and queuing can be done in the required socially distancing protocol,” McHugh said.
Momentum will be working with the Nelson Mandela Business Chamber and the metro for medical supply and vaccinations.
Nelson Mandela Bay metro spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki welcomed the initiative and called on other businesses to assist.
“The municipality is encouraged by the fact that the private sector within the medical industry has embraced the government’s call to put their hands on deck to fast-track the vaccination project,” he said.
“The sooner all eligible people are vaccinated, the better the lives of the people of this city will be after having been severely disrupted by this pandemic.”
McHugh said the facility would be available to all people “whether covered by private medical schemes or not”.
Registration can be done via the Electronic Vaccination Data System portal.
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