​Lerato Mailoane
Government is pleased that the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout programme got underway without any glitches in Gauteng on Monday 17 May.
Gauteng Premier, David Makhura and Health Minister, Dr. Zweli Mkhize expressed satisfaction at the rollout of Phase 2 of South Africa's vaccine programme, targeting people over the age of 60 years.
The Minister and the Premier visited two vaccination sites in the Westrand. Their first stop was at Munsieville Care for the Aged and the second stop was Moria Old Age home both in Krugersdorp to oversee the seamless operations at vaccination sites as they witnessed the elderly receiving their first Pfizer vaccines.
Gauteng has 29 vaccination sites which received 10 300 Pfizer doses, and these were distributed across all 5 districts.
Minister Mkhize said he was impressed with how well the process was running and assured that more sites would be opening throughout the week.
"We wanted to make sure that the numbers were controlled so we can deal with the teething problems. All the screening is happening, and the process is running smoothly, and I am quite happy," said the Minister.
According to Mkhize, government will run 83 of the vaccination sites, while four will be in the private sector.
He said his department was hoping to scale up these centres to about 200 by the end of the week.
The Minister reiterated government's strategy to immunise citizens who are aged 60 and older in the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination plan as they are deemed the most vulnerable for becoming ill or dying of COVID-19.
"We will continue to vaccinate healthcare workers and complete the targeted 1.2 million by the end of the week. "As we speak, SMS messages are being dispatched with invitations to vaccinate and over 7 000 are being dispatched to healthcare workers and 4 288 to citizens 60 years and above," said Mkhize. 
At the same time, Premier Makhura reassured the healthcare workers that they will still be vaccinated, and this process will continue simultaneously with the pensioners.
We are going to continue to work and problem solve until we reach all the 10.4 million people across Gauteng.
He said he did not sleep making sure that things run smoothly, he said he was pleased to see officials handling any glitches timeously.
"If someone is here and they have registered and there is a problem, there is problem-solving on site."