JOHANNESBURG (AP) – At a busy taxi stand near Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, a health worker with a megaphone was inviting bystanders to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Olekantse Serati was one of dozens of people who decided to get vaccinated on Friday.
“It is good that the vaccines have been brought here to the Bara taxi rank so that we do not have to go to the vaccination centers or hospitals,” said Serati. “It’s also good that you can get the injection quickly and go home immediately afterward.”
They got the Johnson & Johnson vaccines because they are single-dose. The temporary center is part of South Africa’s attempts to boost the declining number of vaccinations.
“We realize that a lot of people are too busy, they don’t have time to go to our vaccination sites, so we bring the vaccines to the people at this taxi rank,” said Adowa Malamule, the manager of the Soweto clinic. “Our main objective is to reach taxi drivers, users and street vendors who are in this area.”
Faced with the decreasing number of people getting vaccinated against COVID-19, South Africa also allowed all adults to get vaccinated to increase the volume of vaccinations as it battles an increase in disease fueled by the delta variant.
On Friday, the country began offering vaccines to everyone 18 years of age and older as the volume of daily injections stalled despite more vaccines now available.
Fewer than 200,000 injections are given per day, down from 250,000 a few weeks ago and well below the goal of 300,000 the government hoped to achieve by now.
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