WATCH: Phase two of vaccine rollout progressing at Afrocentric without a hitch

As the government’s vaccine rollout plan begins to gather momentum, private companies are increasingly being entrusted with the momentous yet delicate task of administering the liquid hope.

Medscheme, a subsidiary of Afrocentric Group, is two weeks into their phase two operations with everything smooth sailing so far. Afrocentric Group arranged a tour of their Florida North headquarters to allow a behind the scenes peak at the mechanics around administrating the government provided vaccine. Afrocentric Group, through Medscheme are able to administer 300 Pfizer vaccines a day to pre-registered high risk persons.

The elderly, those in vulnerable professions and those living with co-morbidities are able to register on the government portal to declare their intentions to be vaccinated. Thereafter, applicants would be directed to a second portal that would allocate them a slot on a specific day to receive their much anticipated shot. Eager recipients will arrive on the day and after a brief screening, are be directed the final waiting area before being shown to the booth of destiny.

In the booth sits an administrative assistant and a nurse to run one through the simple procedure, explain possible side effects and prep the patients arm for insertion. Once the jab is received, patients enjoy a short rest before their second Pfizer shot appointment is confirmed. With seven booths operating at full steam, Medscheme aim to have the vaccine recipients in and out within a 30 minute window.

While the nerves and anxiety are peaking in the front of the building, a metronomic flow of calmness encompasses the nurses working in the background. A team nurses sit in an office out of view from the public as they carefully prep the syringes. Each vile of the vaccine is enough for six doses and sets of seven syringes at a time are primed for their purpose and are shuttled to the booths in a small cooler box. Once take out of the cooling facility, the vaccine needs to be used within a six hour window and each prepped syringe is labelled with the time it was loaded to avoid any unwanted wastage.

The Conrad Road site is one of six planned in total for the company nationwide. “The only way to get through this is together. It is a little sad that it has taken a pandemic to remind us how important it is to work together. As a corporate, we appreciate the importance of having to roll up our sleeves to do as much as we can,” said Afrocentric Group CEO, Ahmed Banderker.

The day was also an opportunity to acknowledge the immense effort of nurses, through a donation of 10 000 masks to the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA). Visibly moved, DENOSA President, Simon Hlungwani said, “Thank you for this gesture, it comes greatly appreciated. Some nurses leave behind their families wondering if it is the last time they see them but they know that during a pandemic, there has to be someone who saves the nation”.