‘We are not ready to see you in here’: Undertakers on vaccination drive in convoy with hearses

Funeral undertakers are entering the stage to encourage people to get vaccinated against Covid-19. 

This week, under the banner of the SA Funeral Practitioners Association (Safpa), undertakers took to the streets of Soweto and went to shopping centres in a convoy of hearses to encourage people to vaccinate. 

“We are not ready to see you in these hearses,” was the message from undertakers.

Public relations officer for Safpa in Soweto, Monageng Legae, told TimesLIVE they will take the campaign to different regions in the province after the success of the Soweto drive.

“A lot of people who we engaged with who had not taken the vaccine said they will go to take the vaccine. We see that some people need an extra push to get the message,” he said.

Legae said the industry did not want to see the high death rates experienced during the previous waves of Covid-19 infections.

“It was a dark period we don’t want to see ever again. The high death rate put a lot of strain on our capacity and human capital,” he said.

“We were battling as an industry to keep up with demand.”

Legae said although Gauteng was recording the highest number of daily infections in the country, fewer deaths were being recorded. He said this proves vaccines are doing what they are supposed to do, namely to prevent severe illness and deaths.

“We see that although our infections rate is high, people are not dying at the high rate we saw during the previous three waves. That is the reason we came out to encourage those who are still doubtful, because we can see vaccines work.”

Using the hearses to drive the message, Legae said their aim was to tell people undertakers were not ready to see them in coffins.

“This was in no way saying we are waiting for people to be in hearses. We were saying  people must get the vaccine to protect their lives.

“We lost so many people in a short time and don’t want to see that again. We lost our loved ones too.

“There is no need to see so many deaths because we have enough vaccines in the country.”

TimesLIVE