[imagesource: Reuters /Siphiwe Sibeko]

As of last night, South Africans aged 35 and older can register for a COVID-19 vaccine.

If your first thought when hearing that is ‘but COVID-19 is just the flu’, or something about 5G and magnetism, please don’t feel obliged to weigh in on the matter and dampen this little ray of sunshine for those still tethered to reality.

Right, let’s get down to business.

To register, you head here – the official South African COVID-19 vaccination programme registration portal (EVDS).

You’ll find this screen:

You’re 35 years or older, so you select yes, and start the registration process.

Mine took under five minutes, and within 10 minutes of completion, I had an SMS telling me I was successfully registered.

There’s no time like the present. Do it.

Once you’re registered, you can go about booking a slot on Dischem’s system.

You’ll find this screen:

Enter your ID number, and it will confirm that you’re already registered via EVDS.

From there, you will be able to select from a list of Dischem outlets and pick a two-hour timeslot. I did so, and received an SMS shortly afterwards with confirmation of my outlet, time, and vaccine code.

You will be instructed to bring along your ID or passport as well, as well as your medical aid card if you have medical aid coverage.

Discovery medical aid members can also book a vaccination slot through the app or online portal – head here.

I would suggest you don’t potter about, because slots appear to be filling up very rapidly, both through the Dischem and Discovery portals.

The sooner we are vaccinated, the sooner our chances of returning to some degree of normality.