This is according to the Free State Health Department's spokesperson, Mondli Mvambi, who says there are many hurdles this time around. Mvambi says reasons for the low number of vaccinations recorded in this group, include children needing consent from parents, parents who are against vaccinating, or uncertainty towards getting vaccinated. Mvambi says the department on Wednesday recorded 1 397 persons who registered to get vaccinated in the Free State. 39 109 persons registered nationwide. Mvambi says the Free State recorded 570 persons who got vaccinated, with 7 791 vaccinations recorded in total nationwide.

“Most provinces are faced with the same problem. In fact, the entire globe is faced with similar problems of people who we don’t know how they will react [towards] vaccination,’’ says Mvambi.

Mvambi says ideally, these age groups should be coming with their parents or have their consent when getting vaccinated. Mvambi says regardless of this, the legislation allows the department to vaccinate these teens, even without parents' consent because they have the right to seek appropriate health services on their own.

OFM News earlier reported parents can take their kids to any private or public healthcare facility, with the child's identity documents and if available, medical aid details. The ideal is to register beforehand, else they will be helped to register on their phones and be vaccinated. People who do not have medical aid can also be vaccinated free of charge.

OFM News/Blaine Jones