Minister of health monitors vaccine sites
His visit started at Rob Ferreira Hospital, then moved to the Malalane Vaccination Site and the Mbuzini Ndindindi Open Grounds in Nkomazi Local Municipality.
The minister of health, Dr Joe Phaahla, embarked on a Covid-19 vaccination site drive in some parts of the province on Monday.
Phaahla was joined by Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane and the MEC for health, Sasekani Manzini; they monitored the vaccine roll-out and interacted with both healthcare workers
and the public.
Phaahla said, “We are aware of all the misinformation. We are trying everything possible to give information that is correct, which is why we have a media briefing every Friday morning. We want to appeal to newspapers and community radio stations to give us the platform so that we can explain that these vaccines are really safe. They have been tested; they have been shown to be safe and very effective.
“We have seen many people in South Africa who received the vaccine; if they get an infection, it is very mild and they do not end up in ICU.”
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According to him there are adequate vaccine stocks of both Johnson&Johnson and Pfizer.
“We have ample stock for everyone going to our vaccination sites. We are now at a stage that it is not enough to just to tell people that the vaccines are available in the hospitals. We need to take it closer to the people. Things such as mobile vaccinations need to happen. I am happy that the province has made sure that the vaccine goes to the people, rather than them having to travel long distances to the vaccination sites.”
He added that it is likely they might start with the 18-year-old group soon.
Mtshweni-Tsipane said the province has a Covid-19 strategy. “We have come up with different approaches as to how to reach out to the communities at large, to make sure we increase the number of people that have been vaccinated in the process.
“Some of the strategies are to establish vaccination sites that are accessible to our communities, and we then realised we needed to expand those sites and bring them closer to our people.
“Part of expanding is to partner with our mining sector and farming industries, to make sure that most of these workers are vaccinated.”
