HOPE and excitement gripped the Munsieville care home in the South African mining city of Krugersdorp on Monday, when people over the age of 60 were called to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for the first time.
“It’s going to change our country for the better,” Caroline Nicholls, 64, a judge, told Reuters while waiting to get her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
“I am very excited to finally be here today,” said Ellen Segope, 65, a pensioner who lives nearby. In Cape Town, celebrated anti-apartheid activist and cleric Desmond Tutu was among those vaccinated.
South Africa’s vaccination campaign has suffered a series of setbacks, delaying the point at which it can start protecting its elderly against the coronavirus.
In February, it ditched plans to use AstraZeneca’s vaccine because of data showing it had greatly reduced efficacy against the dominant local variant, and it temporarily paused use of Johnson &
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