Visit any Mediclinic Vaccination Centre over Vooma Vaccination Weekend

Posted on 8 November 2021

Mediclinic is once again participating in the Vooma Vaccination Weekend, 12-13 November 2021, in support of COVID-19 vaccinations.

All Mediclinic vaccination centres will be open on these dates, making the vaccination process even more accessible. Community members can visit this link to identify the most convenient vaccination sites. This also includes details on which vaccine is on offer at that locality. Please take note that any eligible person from 12 years and older, and both insured and uninsured people are welcome.

Mediclinic strongly supports the vaccination of individuals as means to protect themselves from severe infection. Recent data from international and local studies support this position.

“Mediclinic notes the feedback provided recently from Discovery Medical Aid, who used their data relating to claims across the pandemic to compare the impact of the vaccine on the intensity of infections amongst their members,” notes Dr Gerrit de Villiers, Chief Clinical Officer of Mediclinic Southern Africa.

According to Discovery, their evidence is unequivocal: vaccines work; are incredibly safe and reduce individual risk; and represent the most reliable route to fast-tracking our return to normality. Their data (which covered more than 1.2 million members who received vaccinations) shows that unvaccinated members has a five times higher risk of COVID-19 infection; and 20 times the risk of dying from the complications of a COVID-19 infection.

Importantly, Discovery noted zero vaccine-related deaths recorded amongst any of their scheme members or clients.

As a means of making sure the comparisons were valid, Discovery members who received the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were compared to an equally-matched and risk-adjusted “clinical twin” from the unvaccinated member population – after dose one and then extending for a period of 100 days following the second dose.

They detailed their findings within the recent publication, which found that relative to being unvaccinated, vaccination against COVID-19 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine:

• Reduces the risk of dying from complications of a COVID-19 infection by 94%, 14 days or more after receiving the second dose (and by 79% 14 days after receiving the first dose)
• Reduces the risk of admission to hospital following a COVID-19 infection by 92%, 14 days or more after receiving the second dose (and by 73% 14 days after receiving the first dose)
• Reduces the risk of infection by 79%, 14 days or more after receiving the second dose
• Reduces the risk of being admitted to hospital for another COVID-19 infection by 98%, for those who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection, and are vaccinated on top of this.

According to Dr Gerrit de Villiers, “Mediclinic admissions during the third wave offered supportive trends, with the large majority of admissions into the ICU and High Care units being unvaccinated individuals.”

Both local and international data currently indicates that vaccination is incredibly safe. Your chances of experiencing adverse effects post vaccination are very rare and of low risk. You have a small chance of getting: a tingling sensation in your hands or feet (0.003% of people in the Discovery report); general muscle pain (0.009% of people); and benign enlargement of lymph nodes (0.031% of people) – almost all of which resolve quickly, without requiring treatment. In fact, your risk of developing the three conditions listed above is between 43% to 112% higher from COVID-19 infection itself.

For this reason, Mediclinic is encouraging all individuals to get vaccinated. “We welcome both insured and uninsured individuals to receive their vaccination at one of our many vaccination centres countrywide. To date, more than 42% of the clients receiving vaccines at our facilities were uninsured, with 52% of recipients being women. We especially encourage those who are 50 years of age and older to begin their vaccination doses, or to complete the second Pfizer dose before the festive season, ensuring safe family gatherings during this time!” explains Dr de Villiers.

He explains, “It is vital that we protect ourselves against the risk of a fourth wave over the December holiday season. With many people travelling, expected family and friend gatherings, we believe it is a wise decision to protect every eligible individual before this time.”

Mediclinic invites you to join our Vooma vaccination weekend! Visit our website to make your booking today!