Health Dept mulls Covid-19 jab for immunocompromised kids

Health Minister Joe Phaahla made the announcement during a media briefing on Friday.

Phaahla said government could soon start administrating the Covid-19 vaccine to children between the ages of 5 – 12 years old. 

South Africa in 2021 extended the Covid-19 vaccination to adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years. 

 “What they have recommended is that only children who are immunocompromised must be considered for vaccination and not those who are healthy,” Phaahla said. 

"We are working on the logistics for this because there are several factors that need to be put in place to make sure that the children between five and eleven can be vaccinated.” 

 It's been more than three months since the Covid-19 regulations were scrapped. 

ALSO READ: Fifth monkeypox case confirmed in South Africa

Since then, the Health Department has struggled to convince South Africans to vaccinate against the deadly virus. 

“The vaccination has been struggling,” Phaahla admitted.

“On average on a weekday, we see just around 12 000 most of which are boosters. But we are very happy that there are new takers of vaccinations. We still would’ve wished for a much stronger uptake because we still have the capacity. We know that the private vaccination sites have scaled down because of low uptakes.”

According to Phaahla, the country’s Covid-19 vaccinee intake stands at 37.7 million.

“We are pleased that our 60 years plus population has passed 60% and you know that our aim was to cover 70%, but they are currently standing at 71.4%.”