Maverick Citizen

VACCINATION DIARY: DAY TWO

Nationwide Phase 2 roll-out moves ahead despite load shedding, protests and IT glitches

Nationwide Phase 2 roll-out moves ahead despite load shedding, protests and IT glitches
Retired nurse Mara Majiedt was the first person in the Western Cape to receive a Covid-19 vaccine as part of Phase 2 of South Africa’s vaccine roll-out. (Photo: Western Cape Government)

On Day Two of the vaccine roll-out more sites came online and electronic systems recovered and coped with the previous day’s load shedding. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize pushed for all healthcare workers to be vaccinated by the end of this week.

The vaccine roll-out began in all provinces on Monday, 17 May, notwithstanding challenges such as load shedding, protests and getting accustomed to a new vaccination process, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize at the Royal Showgrounds mass vaccination centre in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.

Mkhize said things were running more smoothly on Tuesday, and no severe side effects had been reported. 

Among the challenges on Monday was load shedding. It created challenges with the electronic vaccination data system but did not affect the cold chain, as contingency measures were in place already, he said.

The electronic system recorded that more than 11,000 people had been vaccinated on Monday; however, all the manual records needed to be added into the system.

The Department of Health has said it will soon launch a public dashboard “that will publish the numbers in near real-time”.

The second challenge was the protests that disrupted vaccinations in Mangaung, Mkhize said. “We hope an alternative will be found so that vaccinations can be continued,” he said.

A third challenge was vaccinators getting used to the process – “mixing the vaccine was found to be a bit of a process”. However, this had already improved by Tuesday and “wastage was less”.

More than 3,300 sites will be active by the end of August or the start of September, Mkhize said. “We want to ramp up our vaccination to over 250,000 people per day.” 

Between now and June, South Africa will receive at least six million vaccines and hoped to get more than that, Mkhize said.

He asked people to be patient for the second dose, as “we might want to delay the second dose by up to three months… if that happens, don’t feel aggrieved. We want to reach as many people as possible and then build up the immunity.”

He explained that evidence from the United Kingdom shows that there is better immunity if someone gets the second dose after three months, as opposed to three weeks. 

Mkhize reiterated his wish that all healthcare workers must be vaccinated by the end of this week. He encouraged them to go to their nearest site and confirmed that there are enough doses to vaccinate them. 

“It’s important that they are protected and safe before the numbers start rising,” he said.

As the Sisonke study has finished, these healthcare workers would receive the Pfizer vaccine. They will need to receive the second dose weeks from now.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba received his vaccine at the Royal Showgrounds mass vaccination centre in Pietermaritzburg. He was in the province to attend the election of a bishop.

“We want to commend the EVDS system – even I, who is IT challenged, found it easy to register,” he joked. He had “prayed the whole night” because he is “not good with needles”, but it was easy, he said.

“I want to say ‘yippee’ to South Africa and may we all encourage our followers to support government. It is very important to attain that required herd immunity.” 

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health released a list of Phase 2 vaccination sites:

The province will also vaccinate 3,363 residents of 41 old age homes, said Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu.

The province has 1,657 vaccinators, and 1,299 outreach personnel who will operate the mobile vaccination sites. 

These outreach teams will visit old age homes and homesteads. Their work will be supplemented by 169 mobile clinics.

The province has 689 vaccination sites ready for Phase 2. These include health facilities, community halls and other public amenities, she said.

It aims to vaccinate 2.9 million people during Phase 2, of which 955,048 are people over 60. It hopes to vaccinate 30,000 people a day for five days a week when it receives Johnson & Johnson doses in mid-June.

Meanwhile, the Western Cape said it had vaccinated 939 people on Monday. It said teams would continue to vaccinate residents of old age homes on Tuesday.

Phase 2B kicked off with the vaccination of retired nurse Mara Majiedt, who had worked at Tygerberg Hospital for more than 40 years. She was vaccinated alongside her husband at the Brackenfell vaccination centre.

“I got the shot to protect myself, my husband, my children, my grandchild, my immediate family and my extended family,” she said.

“We haven’t been hugging each other, you know… nothing is normal. I want to do my bit to protect the community. If we are all vaccinated and we adhere to protocols, the spread of the disease can be in our hands. There is much we can do… but we can do a bit more if we get vaccinated.

“I am wearing a mask that was handed to me from my friend’s husband. My friend was one of the first healthcare workers who passed away due to Covid-19 and while she’s not physically here today, I decided to bring her along and I decided to wear the mask,” she said.

Lillian Slamat (90) received a Covid-19 vaccine at the Karl Bremer Hospital Vaccination Centre on 17 May. Her excitement to be vaccinated kept her awake from 3am. (Photo: Western Cape Government)

The province’s Cape Access Centres are able to help residents register for the vaccine. The 75 centres provide access to computers and the internet in regions where these resources are limited. Find a map of the centres here.

This came a day after Dr Keith Cloete, the head of the province’s department of health, said that registration is skewed, based on access to the internet and technology.

In Limpopo, six hospitals have been administering vaccines. The province aims to vaccinate about 500,000 people over the age of 60 during Phase Two, according to Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba.

The province will target 1.6 million people during the phase, including essential workers and those living in congregate settings, she said.

Beyond Covid-19, winter is also the season for flu vaccinations. Bonitas Medical Fund has announced that it will cover the R50 flu administration fee for its members at 60 pharmacy groups. This includes Dis-Chem, Clicks and Pick n Pay.

How to register

Register to be vaccinated during Phase 2 here: https://vaccination.health.gov.za/#/ 

Alternatively, register on WhatsApp by sending “REGISTER” to 0600 123456.

Or register by SMS by dialling *134*832*your ID number#. If you don’t have an ID number, just dial *134*832#. You do not need a smartphone, airtime or data to register by SMS.

If you encounter any difficulties, call the Covid-19 hotline on 0800 029 999. DM/MC

Gallery

"Information pertaining to Covid-19, vaccines, how to control the spread of the virus and potential treatments is ever-changing. Under the South African Disaster Management Act Regulation 11(5)(c) it is prohibited to publish information through any medium with the intention to deceive people on government measures to address COVID-19. We are therefore disabling the comment section on this article in order to protect both the commenting member and ourselves from potential liability. Should you have additional information that you think we should know, please email [email protected]"

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