Tshwane ready to distribute Covid-19 vaccine
The city is ready in terms of having trained nurses, healthcare facilities to be used for vaccination and proper storage faculties.
The Tshwane metro announced on Wednesday that it was ready to roll-out the Covid-19 vaccine in Pretoria once it had received government approval.
“We are ready to roll-out the coronavirus vaccines in Pretoria,” health MMC Sakkie du Plooy told Rekord.
Du Plooy said the city was ready in terms of having trained nurses, healthcare facilities to be used for vaccination and proper storage facilities.
The metro has trained 148 personnel from the Gauteng health department, which include 39 nurses from the city’s health department.
Du Plooy said trained nurses would run the vaccination programme in the capital city.
“We also have 73 healthcare facilities throughout the city that will be used for this purpose,” he said, having inspected the facilities.
He was convinced that everything was ready in the city.
“If the vaccine comes tomorrow, the patients can come and be vaccinated immediately.”
Regarding the vaccine storage facilities, Du Plooy said the city had a suitable storage system to keep the vaccines at the required temperature levels.
He added that they had begun to register their staff in the electronic vaccination data system because as vaccination would help the city win the fight against Covid-19.
“I myself have registered because I am also ready for vaccination.”
He expressed concern over what he described as “a lot of rumours regarding the vaccination”.
“I would like to tell the people that I have also registered and ready to take the vaccine because I think it is the right thing to do.”
Tshwane metro mayor Randall Williams said in a statement the city continued to witness a strong recovery rate which stood at 96% with a continued decline in the number of new daily cases.
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According to Williams, between 5 to 9 February, the new daily cases dropped from 221 to 105.
He, however, called on residents to be cautious and vigilant in their daily engagements and activities.
“Statistics indicate that the second surge of Covid-19 in Tshwane was much more severe than the previous surge experienced in July 2020.”
He said the announcement by the national government that the AstraZeneca vaccine “would not be rolled out” was a setback in the country’s long-term fight to contain the spread of the virus.
“It is critical that the country has vaccines in place so that we protect our citizens.”
He said it was important that residents continue encouraging and guiding family members, friends and colleagues to adhere to the prescribed safety measures to prevent the further spread of the virus.
*Please note that this article has been amended.
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