Rethabile Clinic says they have no available vaccinations
Concerned parents have alleged they had been turned away by the clinic because they didn't have stock of the vaccines.
POLOKWANE – Vaccines are effective, safe and crucial to protect children from harmful diseases such as polio, measles and mumps among others.
Read more: Prevent the spread of disease – vaccinate your kids!
Parents who do not have medical aid make use of government facilities for their family’s medical needs, including vaccines, but some have recently alleged they had been turned away by the Rethabile Clinic in the city because they didn’t have stock of the vaccines.
A concerned grandmother, Onnica Maungane, contacted Review after she was turned away when she wanted to take her 10-week-old granddaughter for her vaccinations.
“I was told to bring my granddaughter back at 14 weeks for the vaccination,” she said.
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Another mother, who wished to remain anonymous, took her daughter to the clinic for her vaccinations where she was told there had been a shortage of HEPB1 and DTAP-IPV-HIB1 vaccines for ‘a long time’. She was allegedly told by the clinic personnel to bring her daughter back at 14 months for the ‘full treatment’.
This was something a medical expert in the city said was dangerous.
“It is not safe at all to give babies all these injections at one time and can have several n side-effects. There is only an allowance of an injection of 1 ml that can be given and the injections, if given at the same time, will be over 1,5 ml. By law, this is not allowed. It is dangerous and reckless for medical professionals to suggest this kind of action,” the medical professional told Review.
She said the chances of the vaccinations not being available is not a question of running out because the needed items can be bought from a doctor and it was more likely the nurses were either not doing their work or there were bills that have not been paid.
Read more: Slow service still a problem at Rethabile Clinic
This was something the Spokesperson for the Department of Health, Derick Kganyago, could not confirm nor deny.
He said he was not aware of the issue and is currently out of the city on a conference. Last week he told Review he would investigate the allegations and give feedback but has not yet done so. Kganyago could also not comment on parents alleging they were told to leave the clinic when they were in need of medical attention or that signs are put up stating nurses are on lunch every hour.
“The signs are put up from 11:00 to 12:00 and then from 12:00 to 13:00 and so on, we are being ignored and this is something that happens often. We are in need of the services offered at these clinics and the personnel are seemingly not willing to help us,” several concerned patients lamented.
