Madelaine Smal, a local hairdresser in Caledon, decided Covid-19 would not be the reason the doors of her hair salon close again. This is why, when Covid-19 vaccinations became available, she decided to play an active role in getting her staff, clients and community vaccinated.
Being a business owner for the past 16 years, Madelaine says she had never experienced anything as bad as the Covid-19 pandemic which, during lockdown level 5 and part of level 4, forced her to close her doors for three months.
She explains that as a single parent she is dependent on her business for an income to support herself and her daughter. This, along with protecting her clients, is how her business became a venue for a pop-up vaccination site.
“About 80% of my clientele are older people with chronic illnesses so when I decided to get vaccinated, I did it not only for me and my business, but also to protect my clients,” Madelaine said.
“I feared giving my clients Covid-19 and did all I could in my business to protect them. I lost five of my clients and a family member to Covid-19, and I was not prepared to lose more.
“I noticed that the mobile clinic visits the communities that we stay in but not the places that we work at, and our lunchtimes are rarely long enough to visit a vaccination site on the other side of town.
“I decided to approach one of my clients who works for the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness, and she arranged that my business become part of the mobile clinic’s route.”
She also made arrangements with businesses in the town to host vaccination pop-up sites and at certain points in the community together with the Department of Health and Wellness.
“Since I started the vaccination drive I can happily report that not a single one of my clients has contracted Covid-19,” Madelaine stated.
The Director of the Department of Health and Wellness in the Overberg District, Wilma Kamfer, says: “As a health service manager I am excited that people like Madelaine are making Covid-19 her business to protect her hair salon and prevent it from closing due to Covid-19 again. Getting our communities protected and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic is everyone’s business.”