By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize said in a statement the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa has risen to 1 510 778.
This is an increase of 1654 new cases identified in the last 24 hours.
Mkhize said a further 117 deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 4, Free State 0, Gauteng 59, Kwa-Zulu Natal 13, Limpopo 4, Mpumalanga 8, North West 0, Northern Cape 12 and Western Cape 17 which brings the total to 49 784 deaths.
The cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 9 028 074 with 28 752 new tests recorded since the last report while the recoveries now stand at 1 426 417, representing a recovery rate of 94%.
Meanwhile the Department of Health presented a “vaccine roll-out and acquisition plan” to the National Council of Provinces on Thursday, 25 February.
Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize, along with the nine health MECs and the deputy director-general of the Department of Health, Dr Anban Pillay, briefed the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on the provinces’ state of readiness to roll out the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
This comes just a few days after opposition parties voiced their concern about the apparent “secrecy” around the plan and Parliament’s lack of insight and oversight on the matter.
The delegates of the NCOP were most concerned with the decision to centrally procure vaccines and where this left the private sector in the roll-out.
Mkhize and Pillay both said that central procurement would offer the best protection to all people in South Africa. In addition, they said that the private sector could procure vaccines from the government and could provide storage and distribution facilities.
Pillay began the briefing by outlining the government’s plan for distribution during Phase One.
The distribution begins with a provincial list of sites and those who need to be vaccinated. The same applies in the private health setting. The national coordinating committee will consolidate and approve the lists and allocate stock to them. The stock will be distributed to facilities where vaccinations take place.
Healthcare workers are prioritised in Phase One depending on their risk of contracting Covid-19 because of their work – for example, those working in a Covid-19 ward will be vaccinated before those working in the maternity ward.
In Phase One, vaccines are delivered to public and private hospitals to vaccinate healthcare workers. Thereafter, mobile teams will be deployed to reach healthcare workers in primary-care facilities and private medical centres. In addition, there will be vaccination centres in pharmacies and the like with the capacity to store vaccines.
In Phase Two, the same will be used and mobile teams might visit workplaces such as mines which have their own clinics.
Mkhize predicted it would take six months until the second phase could begin. Pillay later stated that it will probably take another three months before another vaccine is registered in South Africa.
Both he and Pillay emphasised that the government has at no time gone through an agent or intermediators to procure vaccines. The department has interacted with the manufacturers directly through their local or global offices.