Cape Town – Men over the age of 35 in South Africa are not as keen as women on being vaccinated against Covid-19. According to a Health Department report last month, only 40% of those who had been vaccinated were men – in the Eastern Cape, only 38% of the province’s vaccinated population were men.
When friends, family and couples disagree about getting vaccinated, the closest of ties can suffer. But Eastern Cape Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth would have alarmed males in the province with her plans to increase vaccination rates.
Not only has the Eastern government embarked on a drive to register men in taverns – where most men go to escape from the rigours of daily life – and other places of entertainment, but Meth yesterday suggested that another way to incentivise more men to get vaccinated is for women – especially unmarried females – to withhold sex until their partner also gets the jab.
Meth yesterday celebrated the Eastern Cape passing the 1 million vaccination mark – 62% of whom were older than 60 – in a province of around six million.
“I think it is a good idea to say, ’no vaccine, no sex’, especially for unmarried women. It will protect both of you,” Meth said in Gqeberha, the Daily Maverick reported.
Slamming the low vaccination rate of men, Meth said: ’’We strongly believe in the old saying, ’if the mountain won't come to Muhammed, then Muhammed must go to the mountain.
’’Yes, we have more women than men, but that 38.02% is too low. It is not good enough... Hence we are doing everything in our power to encourage our brothers, fathers and grandfathers to do the right thing and get vaccinated.
’’We have campaigns mainly aimed at men by taking the life-saving jab directly to them in places like taxi ranks, malls, places of having fun and restaurants.’’
Meth plans on gleaning from scientific evidence why men are hesitant about being inoculated, with a push to get traditional healers to convince males to get the jab.
“When Covid-19 hit the country at the beginning of March last year, the Eastern Cape was the butt of the joke, with prophets of doom saying once we have a confirmed case, the virus will wipe us all out.
’’People pointed to the fact that we are a mainly rural province, saying once the virus gets to our villages, that’s it for us. But we are not the ‘Home of Legends’ for nothing,” said the MEC.
Meth said an average of 26 000 people are being vaccinated daily in the Eastern Cape, but the province is aiming to surpass its peak of 30 000 a day in order to fully vaccinate 4.5 million people by April next year.
IOL