MEDIA STATEMENT
Health Department commence with vaccine rollout for 12-17 year olds
Pretoria: The Department of Health will tomorrow (Wednesday, 20 October), will commence with registration and vaccination of young people aged 12- 17 years old with Pfizer vaccine in line with the recommendations from the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines.
This follows an announcement made by the Minister Health Dr Joe Phaahla last week, that all children 12-17 years and older will be eligible to receive one dose of Pfizer vaccine. Most of them at secondary or high school level. This will be beneficial as schools are preparing for end year examinations to conclude the academic year.
Due to preparations for final year examinations, there won`t be any special vaccination sites at schools for this age group now.
Parents caregivers and legal guardians are encouraged to assist eligible young people to register and vaccinate at their public or private nearest vaccination site.
The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 provides that children over the age of 12 years can consent to their own medical treatment or that of their children, provided they are of sufficient maturity and have the mental capacity to understand the benefits, risks, social and other implications of the treatment.
However, it is recommended that parents have open discussions with children about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccine to make an informed health choice, and possibly accompany them when they present themselves at vaccination sites.
Vaccination of young people from the age of 12 years is a global phenomenon of which the parents should not be too concerned about it.
As with adults, all eligible children should bring along South African ID cards, Birth certificate with registration number, foreign passport or any verifiable asylum/refugee proof of identity bearing the name of the child for purposes of registering on the EVDS.
Meanwhile, women and young girls aged 12 years and older, should be encouraged to vaccinate during any stage of their pregnancy and breastfeeding.
The Department recommended that health care workers to discuss the benefits and possible risks of COVID-19 vaccination with their clients.
All eligible children can register to vaccinate through EVDS link https://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za/#/ or call COVID-19 Call centre 0800 029 999 .
All general enquiries related to access to the vaccination of adolescent young people should be directed to evdsqueries@health.gov.za
For media queries, please contact:
Mr Foster Mohale
Director Media Relations
National Health Department
0724323792 Foster.Mohale@health.gov.za
