REGIONAL NEWS - Over and above the vaccination sites set up by the Department of Health (DoH), there are four additional sites available to the public in Knysna and Bitou, run by private institutions.
The vaccination effort, province- and countrywide, has slowly but surely gained momentum since it got underway in March this year.
Throughout South Africa a total of 9 557 542 vaccines had been administered as on Monday 16 August, with just shy of 1,5 million in the Western Cape (1 495 010). In the Garden Route the drive has also powered ahead, reaching a total of 144 386 vaccines administered up until that date.
None of this would of course be possible without the vaccination sites where people can actually go and receive their jabs. The vaccination roll-out started with only a handful of sites in non-metro areas of the Western Cape such as Knysna and Bitou, but with time, more and more sites were added.
When it comes to public health facilities that are run and overseen by the Western Cape Department of Health (DoH), there is a total of nine sites in Knysna and Bitou that run week in and week out.
In Knysna the two sites that are generally open every weekday (Monday to Friday) are the Knysna Town Hall and the Knysna Community Day Centre (CDC). In addition, the Sedgefield Clinic as well as the Karatara and Keurhoek satellite clinics do vaccinations on specific weekdays.
In Bitou there are four public health vaccination sites available - Kwanokuthula CDC and Plettenberg Bay Town Clinic are open most days each week, with the Kranshoek and Crags clinics receiving specific days each week.
On the days that they operate, these sites begin administering vaccines from 09:00 and are open to anybody who has registered on the government's EVDS system. Preference is however given to those who have received appointment SMSs and further priority is given based on age and whether or not someone is receiving their first or second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
READ MORE: When and where to vaccinate this week
Outside the realm of the DoH sites, private institutions such as Clicks and Dis-Chem as well as Life Private Hospital Knysna are also running their own sites for the public. Dis-Chem operates its vaccination site from the first floor of Knysna Mall, above L'Opera, every weekday between 08:00 and 16:00. Clicks runs its sites out of their stores in Woodmill Lane in Knysna and at Market Square in Plettenberg Bay.
In Knysna the site is open every weekday between 08:00 and 14:00 for appointments only, and between 14:00 and 17:00 for appointments and walk-ins. At Market Square the site is open every weekday between 08:00 and 17:00 for both walk-ins and appointments.
Meanwhile, Life Private Hospital Knysna is running its site from the Premier Resort Hotel The Moorings on George Rex Drive. Its vaccination site is open on weekdays from 08:30 to 15:00 to both appointments and walk-ins, with the former taking preference.
It should be noted that at all sites, both public and private, the times are dependent on vaccine availability. Further, if you arrive at a site and have not registered, you will be assisted to do so.
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