A R100 “Vooma voucher” from Shoprite/Checkers will be the reward for people above the age of 60 who opt for Covid-19 inoculation in November.

The initiative, announced by the national Department of Health on Friday, is sponsored by, among others, the DG Murray Trust, Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropy, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Elma Vaccine and Immunization Foundation and Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

“We hope the pilot will be a success so that it can encourage other companies to come forward. We welcome other initiatives which are still being considered,” said Minister of Health Joe Phaahla.

David Harrison from the DG Murray Trust said people over 60 who get vaccinated during November will receive an invitation on the cellphone number they have provided to the Department of Health to opt-in for the grocery voucher. This voucher can be redeemed at Checkers, Shoprite or uSave stores. He said the money would be protected and would only be available to the recipient.

The hope is that the money will help offset costs for those who must pay for transport to get to vaccination stations.

Travel costs have been identified as a major barrier to vaccination, especially for those whose only income is an old-age grant. Other initiatives, such as the Getting to the Gogos programme, are also reaching the elderly when they collect their monthly grants.

Phaahla said 22.1 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, with 15 million individuals having received at least one jab — which is 37.9% of the adult population. He said 12.1 million South Africans are fully vaccinated — 30% of South African adults. The government’s aim is to reach 40% of adults by the end of November.

“We are especially optimistic about reaching 70% of the age group above 60 years and close to 70% of the 50- 59 years before the end of December 2021,” added Phaala.

“We again urge everyone to take advantage of the current low levels of infection before the fourth wave hits. The vaccination of 12 to 17 year olds is proceeding steadily with 99,900 done by yesterday and 183,700 registered. We expect the numbers to pick up during the school holidays.”

He said 2.8 million vaccination certificates have been downloaded but teams are currently working on improving the security of the certificate and this will be launched in November.

Acting director-general of the Department of Health Dr Nicholas Crisp said 13% of people who got a first Pfizer shot did not return for the second within 100 days.

This included 280,000 people over the age of 60, although this number included those who are still in the required waiting period between shots. DM/MC