Cape Town CTICC to turn into mass COVID-19 vaccination site

The City of Cape Town and Western Cape government have announced that the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) will be turned into a mass COVID-19 vaccination site for residents.

The provincial government and municipality are set to sign formal contracts with the venue to implement these plans within the next three to four weeks. The aim to is complete the project before the end of June.

However, the venue will only be able to operate at capacity once more vaccine doses arrive in the country.

“At its peak, it is envisaged that this mass ‘vaccination centre of hope’ will be able to vaccinate over 4 000 people a day. It will have up to 50 vaccination stations, with each station capable of administering 100 vaccinations per day,” Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said in a statement.

“This will have a major impact on the pace of our vaccination programme, especially as we move to vaccinate residents under the age of 60.”

Earlier in the pandemic, the convention centre was used as a field hospital for COVID-19 patients.

South Africa is currently entering its third wave of COVID-19 as cases spike.

As of 9 June, South Africa has detected 8 881 new COVID-19 cases. The majority of these new cases (58%) are in Gauteng, according to the Department of Health.

Meanwhile, the country has administered a total of 1 433 730 vaccines.

Feature image: Mufid Majnun/Unsplash

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