Covid-19 vaccination registration opens for health-care workers

Less than 24 hours after the arrival of the first million Covid-19 vaccines on South African shores, the government’s Electronic Vaccination Data System officially went online.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday said this system would be used to track who gets the vaccine and where.

“The Department of Health has developed an Electronic Vaccine Data System to streamline the vaccine registration and rollout process. This will allow us to capture all relevant data associated with the administration of the vaccine,” Ramaphosa said. “This system allows a person to make an appointment as soon as they qualify for a vaccination at the vaccine centre closest to them. The system will record vaccinations as they are administered,” he added.

While the first rollout of the vaccine will be for front line health-care workers, the system still allows everyone — both locals and foreigners —  to register their details.

Registration, which takes about two minutes, can be done via any electronic device that has internet connection.

The page first requires one to enter one's ID or passport number.

The second page requires one’s personal details such as name, surname, date of birth and contact number.

The next page asks for employment details, the location of the job, and an indication of medical aid cover, with details.

The page after requires one to say where one works and to choose a medical facility close by that has the vaccine.

President Cyril Ramaphosa had said the vaccine would be administered at 200 facilities nationwide.

The last page is simply one agreeing to the terms and conditions listed on the site.

Among these are  that enrolment did not guarantee vaccination and that vaccinees' personal information will be shared with the Department of Health.

Here, vaccinees are also informed that they will be getting two injections — the second being administered at a later, scheduled date.  SMS notifications would be sent, confirming a date and venue for the vaccinations.

Several people had already attempted registration.

It's important to note, however, that while everyone would have access to registering now, the system would most likely be able to sift through those who indicated they were not health-care workers, who  are first in line to receive the vaccinations.

Someone who is not a health-care worker will receive an sms which partially reads: “Currently, self-registration is only available for health-care workers. Should you be eligible for vaccination, you will be contacted via SMS regarding next steps.”

In other countries that have used similar systems, it took a matter of days for the registration to be completed.

Some local health-care workers, however, have already received feedback via SMS.

Kolisi Sinyaya shared a screenshot of her registration feedback, saying she had successfully registered.

One of the glitches, however, may be that there is no call centre to immediately assist if there are any queries.

The only numbers provided on the EVDS page is the Covid-19 hotline and the Covid-19 WhatsApp support line.

TimesLIVE