Several private sector vaccine sites in Pretoria closed for fear of looting
All government vaccination sites in the region continue operating while other parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng the roll-out has been hampered due to protests.
Although government vaccination sites have continued to operate, several private pharmaceutical companies halted roll-out as they remained closed in Pretoria, raising concerns about the programme.
From Monday until Wednesday morning, about 10 Clicks stores in Pretoria remained closed due to ongoing looting affecting Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal over the past days.
In a statement on Tuesday the pharmaceutical company said it had to close 110 of its stores in KwaZulu-Natal and 130 stores in Gauteng, with 52 stores damaged so far nationwide.
“The disruption of services means affected Clicks stores will be temporarily unable to administer vaccinations and provide medication to customers, along with public sector medicine pick-up points being temporarily unavailable,” the statement read.
“Contingency plans are being put in place to provide alternative arrangements for delivery of chronic medication and rescheduling of vaccinations, where possible. The cost of the looting and damages to stores is still to be determined given the ongoing unrest.”
Stores affected by temporary closure include; Sammy Marks Square, Muckleneuk, Femina Arcadia, Tshwane mall, Mams mall, Montana Crossing, Mabopane, Wonderpark, Soshanguve Crossing, Soshanguve plaza and Atteridgeville stores.
Of the affected areas, looting had taken place at Mams mall Monday, and reported to have taken place on Tuesday night, leaving several stores damaged.
Health spokesperson Popo Maja urged the people scheduled to be vaccinated at sites in effected areas by the unrest to defer their vaccination.
“The electronic vaccine data system will automatically reschedule appointments for those unable to attend; it is programmed to reschedule up to two missed appointments.”
Momentum Health Solutions spokesperson Damian McHugh said the Doringkloof vaccine site in Pretoria which was closed Monday and Tuesday, was opened on Wednesday.
McHugh said the closure caused further delays in the roll-out of the vaccine.
On Tuesday, Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the sporadic protests and threats of protests saw two government vaccination sites and one mobile testing clinic at Wonderpark being closed on Monday.
As of Tuesday, he said all the vaccination sites were opened.
The vaccination snags hit the region as Tshwane Health MMC Sakkie du Plooy recently raised concerns over a slow uptake in the vaccination programme by eligible residents, particularly the elderly aged between 60 and 69 in Tshwane.
“As of July 6, the metro has vaccinated 207 182 people and we would like to see more residents registering to get their jabs.”
During an address to the nation on Monday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa described the protests as a setback to the vaccination programme.
“Our vaccination programme has been severely disrupted just as it was gaining momentum. This will have lasting effects on our ability to consolidate some of the progress we were already witnessing in our economic recovery.”
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