Walk-ins for COVID-19 jab allowed at Athlone Stadium
The Western Cape Government, in partnership with the City of Cape Town launched one of the biggest vaccine sites in the province at Athlone Stadium on Monday.
The Vaccine Centre of Hope aims to curb the
spread of the coronavirus in the province.
The site is accessible to Cape Flats residents
and could improve low vaccination rates in some districts. It is also the first
drive-through and walk-through mass vaccination site in the province.
‘’The Athlone Stadium was chosen as it is
easily accessible, via all forms of transport, to the broader Klipfontein
community and serves a large majority of the uninsured population in the Cape
Metro. In addition, the stadium is also very well known to the Cape Town
community and resonates with the people of the Cape Flats such as Gugulethu,
Nyanga, Heideveld, Hanover Park, Athlone and Manenberg,’’ says Western Cape
Premier, Alan Winde.
At full capacity, according to the department,
the site would be able to administer more than 4 000 vaccines per day through
both its walk-in and drive-through sections, making it as big as the CTICC's
Vaccination Centre of Hope.
Winde said the site demonstrated the province's
commitment to a vaccination programme based on fairness, access and equity.
‘’The philosophy of fairness and equity
underlines the opening of the Athlone Vaccination Centre of Hope at the Athlone
Stadium, which will bring a mass vaccination site closer to residents of the
Cape Flats, while providing an efficient, well-run service. Every life matters,
and so every person must have access to these life-saving vaccines. It doesn’t
matter where you live, or what you earn.’’
This walk-through service will have 40
vaccination stations while the drive-through services will have five lanes. The
drive-through will follow the same steps as a walk-through, with cars stopping
at five stations, which will ensure that clients are successfully screened,
registered, and vaccinated.
SUPPLIED -WCG
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