News24 reports that the Western Cape Department of Health has received reports of people approaching Covid-19 vaccination sites to request vaccination cards without having got their gabs.
Apparently, the motivation behind the requests is to allow for travel, without receiving a vaccine. In a briefing on Thursday, department head Dr Keith Cloete confirmed the practice had taken place at both private and public vaccination sites. He said requesting a vaccination card without receiving a vaccine constituted fraud. “Those should be managed as any fraudulent cases - they should be reported, investigated and followed up, and the might of the law should be visited upon on people like that. If that becomes a practice that is allowed to flourish, it will have untold damage on the reputation of the vaccination programme," said Cloete. Premier Alan Winde echoed the sentiment, saying fraud in the vaccine programme was "absolutely unacceptable". As of Wednesday, the province had administered 1,254,490 vaccines, with 455,359 people fully vaccinated. The Western Cape is currently in the peak of the third wave, and the vaccination programme is a key arm of the province's response. However, a supply constraint has hindered the rollout over the past two weeks.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicole McCain at News24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page