Reach out to our EMS Vaccination Programme on Wheels

The best way to stop new variants from arising is to increase the proportion of vaccinated individuals, who are less likely to pass on the COVID-19 virus if they become infected. Through the Vaxi Taxi initiative, the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are partnering with various local community partners across the Western Cape to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to people’s ‘front door’. These crucial relationship-building efforts have enabled a total of 116 residents from Kuils River, Eerste River, Khayelitsha, Firgrove and Macassar to receive their vaccine or booster since the Vaxi Taxi initiative began operating again in August 2022. 

Community partners can now reach out to the Vaxi Taxi teams to invite them as they visit churches, schools, tertiary institutions, and public sites over the next few weeks. With a few ambulances, they travel to parts of the province where it might be difficult for residents to access fixed vaccination sites. The ambulances become vaccination cubicles, a gazebo is erected in-between so that there is a shaded waiting area for vaccine recipients, and there is a cold-chain team that looks after the vaccines. Before the Vaxi Taxi teams visit a neighbourhood, they walk door-to-door with community leaders and neighbourhood watches to let residents know that a vaccination event will be taking place near them, have conversations with them about their concerns, and explain the importance of vaccination, which remains a key tool that underpins our route out of the pandemic. 

COVID-19 is still around and will continue to be a risk to vulnerable persons for the foreseeable future. To explore potential collaborative efforts, interested parties can contact the EMS Vaxi Taxi vaccination programme on 021 508 4520 or send an email to Noorifah Narker Noorifah.Narker@westerncape.gov.za