Cape Town convention centre goes from field hospital to mass vaccination site

A few months ago it was a packed Covid-19 field hospital, and within weeks the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) will be a mass vaccination centre capable of administering 4,000 jabs daily.

A statement on Thursday by Western Cape premier Alan Winde and Cape Town mayor Dan Plato said the centre would open within three or four weeks.

Winde said: “Just over one year ago, our teams worked quickly and efficiently to convert the CTICC into the Western Cape’s first major field hospital, our Hospital of Hope, and it became a place of healing for the thousands of residents who received life-saving treatment there.

“I’m excited to once again be working at full speed to open this world-class conferencing venue to residents across the City of Cape Town, enabling a radical increase in life-saving vaccinations. It is our intention for it to be a centre of hope in our city and province within a few weeks.”

Plato said the city council aimed to have the CTICC vaccination site ready by the end of June. The provincial government would be responsible for running it.

Winde added: “At its peak, it is envisaged that [it] will be able to vaccinate over 4,000 people a day. It will have up to 50 vaccination stations, with each station capable of administering 100 vaccinations per day.

“This will have a major impact on the pace of our vaccination programme, especially as we move to vaccinate residents under the age of 60.”

At least two more mass vaccination centres are planned in Cape Town. The statement said their activation would depend on the supply of vaccines over the next few weeks.

TimesLIVE