Heath Dept rolls out Covid-19 vaccine roadshow
As part of its upcoming roadshows, the KZN Department of Health will be visiting all the province’s 11 districts to promote the vaccination programme.
KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane launched the first of a series of province-wide roadshows to drum up public support for vaccination against Covid–19. The event was held at Moses Mabhida People’s Park on Tuesday, 8 June.
This launch took place a day before the commencement of the vaccination of educators from around the province, as part of the second phase of the vaccination programme. MEC Simelane was accompanied by her counterpart, KZN Education MEC Mr Kwazi Mshengu.
As part of its upcoming roadshows, the KZN Department of Health will be visiting all the province’s 11 districts to promote the vaccination programme. The team of influencers includes district champion MECs, Heads of Department, amakhosi, mayors, celebrities, the business, religious, traditional leaders, traditional healers, and other influential sectors of society. These members have agreed that they will use every platform available to them to champion the benefits of vaccination, from social and traditional media, to meetings, and every stage that they have access to.
According to the health department, the roadshow’s aim to grow the province’s contribution towards realising the government’s quest to vaccinate at least 67 per cent of the South African population, to achieve herd immunity, and ultimately stem the tide of the deadly Covid-19 infections.
“For Phase 2 of the vaccination programme, which started on 17 May 2021, we have established 171 vaccination sites across the province. We have since vaccinated 78 per cent of the healthcare workers in the public sector as well as 72 per cent of the healthcare workers who work in private hospitals. This amounts to 124 091 health workers who have been vaccinated, while we are left with just 38 051 to vaccinate.
“When it comes to senior citizens aged 60 and above, we have vaccinated 254 097. We are inching closer and closer to achieving our target of 955 048 senior citizens by the end of Phase 2. All in all, the number of people who have been vaccinated stands at 388 353, including those from the Sisonke Implementation Study,” said Simelane.
She added that although the numbers of new infections have not shot through the roof, there is evidence that they are climbing. “For instance, the actual number of new cases were 726 for week 21 (24 – 30 May 2021); and 900 for week 22 (31 May to 06 June 2021) respectively. There is also evidence of our Covid-19 hospital beds having more patients than they have in the past few months. We currently have 483 Covid-19 patients (403 in the private sector and 80 in the public sector).
“Therefore, there is evidence all around us that now is not the time to be casual. Instead, it is time for us to buckle up, and strictly apply all the non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as the correct wearing of masks, regular washing of hands with soap and water or hand sanitiser, and maintaining social distancing. This should apply even to people who’ve been vaccinated,” Simelane concluded.
