- Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Regional Hospital in Bizana is the only vaccination site in the Winnie Madikizela Mandela Local Municipality.
- Villagers from Nyavini travel up to 70km on treacherous roads to and from the site.
- Many people, however, cannot afford the long trip into town. The hospital's CEO says it allows walk-ins.
The Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Regional Hospital in Bizana in the Eastern Cape is the only Covid-19 vaccination site in the Winnie Madikizela Mandela Local Municipality, GroundUp reported.
Many residents who are eligible for the vaccine live in far-flung rural villages, requiring long commutes on treacherous roads into Bizana.
Lizo Sunduza, 65, lives in Nqabeni Village, some 34km from town. To get vaccinated, he woke up before sunrise to leave home by 06:00. He has to spend about R100 on a round-trip to the vaccine site.
We spoke to Sunduza shortly after he had been vaccinated at the hospital.
He said:
Sunduza said he was concerned about other pensioners in his village who could not afford a trip to the hospital.
Nyavini village is about 70km from town. Villagers there rely on a bus or bakkies that leave at 05:00 and only return at about 18:00.
Community leader Valumsindo Fana said most elderly people, including himself, were yet to register for the vaccine.
Outreach programme to be launched
"Most of us are clueless about this vaccination. Even on radio they talk about registering which we know nothing about. Government should send community health workers to our villages to help people register," he said.
Hospital CEO Zakanzima Mbethe said that their uptake has slowly been increasing. He said vaccination delays are mostly due to problems with the SMS appointment system and the long travelling distances for patients from outlying areas.
Said Mbethe:
"Thirty percent of the 300 allocated daily doses are reserved for walk-ins."
Of the nearly 25 000 people older than 60 in the district, only about 3 000 received doses by the time of our visit on 21 June.
An outreach programme will be launched soon to make vaccinations more accessible to villagers.
Mbethe said that with the arrival of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses, three additional clinics will be administering the jabs.
Eastern Cape health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said many more vaccination sites would be opened soon across the province.