South Africa’s first frontline workers received the COVID-19 vaccination in the Western Cape on Wednesday, February 17. The jabs were administered at the Khayelitsha Hospital, where various health authorities were also present, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize and Western Cape Government’s Head of Health Dr Keith Cloete.

Many have expressed apprehension at being vaccinated, but the national Department of Health has asked healthcare workers who have gotten the vaccine to deliver their testimonies on how they have been affected by it:

“I was very honored to get the vaccine yesterday,” said emergency physician Dr Sa’ad Lahri of the Khayelitha District Hospital. “You know, there’s a lot of vaccine hesitancy and even my friends and family members feel much more confident now after having seen me receive the vaccine. I feel absolutely fine today, I have no side effects. I’m fit and healthy.”

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Nurse delivers baby shortly after receiving country’s first COVID-19 jab

Picture: Twitter

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Lucinda is a hard news writer who occasionally dabbles in lifestyle writing, and recent journalism graduate. She is a proud intersectional feminist, and is passionate about actively creating a world which is free of discrimination and inequality.