By Kaya 959 News
Phase two of the country’s vaccination roll-out programme kicked off yesterday without a glitch.
Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize said despite the challenges of load shedding and violent protests in the Free State, the roll-out proceeded “reasonably well”.
He said although most of the sites were able to proceed, a large number of vaccinations were captured on paper and the numbers are still being reconciled. In addition the numbers vaccinated at old age homes still need to be captured.
“We will therefore allow for this reconciliation over the course of the next 24 hours and will announce the numbers vaccinated in phase two as from tomorrow. In due course we will launch a public facing dashboard that will publish the numbers near real-time,” Mkhize said.
5 Million senior citizens targeted
He said a number of sector leaders aged 60 years and above were vaccinated publicly.
“We express our heartfelt gratitude for their patriotism and leadership as we know that this will assist us to build confidence in the vaccines and in the vaccination process,” he said.
Speaking during a press briefing this week, Mkhize said five million senior citizens are targeted to be completed by the end of June, provided that the supply of vaccines flow as anticipated.
“By the end June we expect to have received 4,5 million doses of Pfizer and 2 million doses of JnJ once released,” he said.
Pharmacists are well trained
Two independent community pharmacies in Gauteng started vaccinating healthcare workers and over 60’s and 500 more pharmacies are in the application process.
They are Ackermans Pharmacy and Eastpark Pharmacy.
Independent community pharmacy, in close collaboration with the Department of Health, is gearing up to offer Covid-19 vaccinations to the public, starting with the over 60s, two of these pharmacies in Gauteng have been approved to start providing vaccines to healthcare workers and 500 more are in the application process.
“Our pharmacies already offer regular immunisation programmes, such as the annual flu vaccination and childhood immunisations,” said Jackie Maimin, CEO of ICPA.
“This means we have established protocols, recording mechanisms and communication channels in place to ensure a streamlined rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine,” Maimin said.
READ: Vaccine Inequity: WHO urges wealthy countries to donate doses through Covax.
Maimin said the pharmacists are well trained and equipped to administer the vaccine and are a source of credible information.
“People concerned about possible side effects should come in and speak to our pharmacists about the risks and benefits of vaccination,” Maimin said.
She warned that people at risk for blood clots should definitely consider vaccination under close medical supervision as Covid-19 infection could be disastrous for them.
As a reminder, there are now 5 ways ways to register on EVDS:
1. online at www.vaccine.enroll.gov.za
2. using the whatsapp line 0600 123456
3. by sms- dial *134*832#
4. call the COVID-19 hotline 0800 029 999
5. You can use the new QR- simply scan and follow the prompts. The QR code will be published widely and can be found on sacoronavirus website or the National Department of Health Website.
