By Kaya 959 News
South Africans between the ages of 35 and 49 are next in line for their COVID-19 vaccines.
Acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane announced on Friday that registration for the age group will open on 15 July.
The vaccine rollout is scheduled to begin on 1 August.
Kubayi-Ngubane said as the rollout is being opened up to more age groups, the department has been inundated with requests to prioritise a certain sector.
“We will continue to approach the vaccine rollout according to age sectors, but we are reviewing this. We do believe that the age process continues to be the best. It will continue to allow us to reach more South Africans,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.
READ: 50s and over rush to register for COVID-19 vaccine
Workplace vaccinations
During this week’s National Coronavirus Command Council meeting, acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said that workplace vaccinations are also open for all eligible employees in the relevant sectors as recently announced by the President.
“Vaccination is rolling out well in the education and police sectors but also in workplace settings such as mines, agriculture and other productive settings. Plans are advanced for the launch of registration of the army and military veterans and other essential service workers,” Ntshavheni said.
Experts also provided clarity that the Lambda variant is not yet detected in South Africa and that currently all precautions must be taken into consideration to ensure readiness for any eventuality of the variant being prevalent.
“From discussions in the NCCC, every effort to scale up vaccination of the population will be crucial. But the biggest weapon in our arsenal to fight this pandemic remains strict adherence to washing and sanitising of hands , wearing a face mask, maintaining social distance and ensuring proper ventilation around remain essential,” Ntshavheni said.
On Thursday, 22 910 more people in SA tested positive for Covid-19. There were also 460 COVID-related deaths.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases said the average daily number of cases has increased.



