The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the immediate opening of registration and rollout of vaccines for those over 18.

The National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) is expected to discuss this at its meeting on Tuesday, amid growing vaccine hesitancy.

News24 understands that at a meeting of the interministerial committee on vaccines this weekend, Minister of Health Joe Phaahla expressed his support for such a move. Some of the other ministers on the committee backed him.

Phaahla also told 702's Bongani Bingwa in an interview on Monday that they were looking at opening vaccination access to over 18s.

This was subject to Cabinet approval.

The motivating factor was concerns about a drop in the number of vaccinations in recent weeks. Allowing over 18s to be vaccinated would get the numbers to move in the right direction and for the programme to regain some momentum.

In his last national address on 25 July, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that people between 18 to 34 would be allowed to get vaccinated against Covid-19 from 1 September.

In a statement released on Tuesday, DA spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube said the Department of Health revealed that vaccine supply would not be a problem for the next two months; instead, vaccine hesitancy had become the greater challenge.

"That is why the DA is calling on the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, to immediately facilitate the opening of registration and rollout for those over the age of 18," she said.

"The minister needs to understand that critical decisions like this during a pandemic cannot be made by a committee; therefore, the insistence that he needs to consult with the leadership of the Cabinet is a luxury we cannot afford."

She said the dwindling numbers of people being vaccinated daily was reason enough to open vaccination to all adults who wanted to take the vaccine.

"Those who are most at risk should continue to be prioritised. However, it makes no sense whatsoever to have vaccine sites standing empty when the audacious task of reaching 40-million South Africans in order to achieve community immunity is still a distant milestone," Gwarube said.

She said the department also needed to find funds to bolster its communication and community outreach projects.

"The admission by the department over the weekend that they do not have the budget to communicate effectively and aggressively about the vaccine rollout is most concerning. It further illustrates how corruption and the theft of public money, directly affects the people of this country. R150-million was looted when it was meant to provide a communication plan. Now the department sits with no budget to perform this critical function while the uptake of the vaccines is plummeting."

She said funds should be reprioritised urgently to remedy the crisis, and there should be a greater emphasis placed on public-private partnerships to target employees in certain industries.

"It is absolutely crucial to reach people where they are. Many people are not able to take time off work to go get their vaccines at certain sites," she said.

"Vaccination is the only way South Africa can begin to recover from the devastation this pandemic has caused and save lives. We cannot afford to waste one more day with our dismal rollout. Those over 18 should access the vaccine should they wish, and the department must jack up its communication and community outreach strategy."