A mobile vaccination service is giving outlying communities in the Western Cape, South Africa, greater access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The Vaxi Taxi aims to increase vaccination uptake in previously underserved and rural communities, which typically struggle to find transport to vaccination sites. According to the Western Cape provincial government, the service is a joint initiative between its health department, pan-African finance group Old Mutual and Accelerate Cape Town, a local business leadership organisation.

Nomafrench Mbombo, the province’s Health MEC, says it will take a ‘whole-of-society’ approach to combat COVID-19. ‘It is also clear that to get more people vaccinated we will need to have a tailor-made approach. It can’t be one-size-fits-all. With these taxis, we will be able to reach out to where people are and vaccinate as many people as possible.’

The initiative comprises four Vaxi Taxi ambulances and a fifth vehicle, each able to vaccinate up to 250 people per day with either the Pfizer or Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Each vehicle is equipped with cold-chain refrigeration, waste-management processes and IT infrastructure.

The project started in Atlantis, on the outskirts of Cape Town, and the service will be offered outside supermarkets, community centres, workplaces and educational institutions around the province.

14 December 2021
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