Media Statement by North West Province Premier, Prof Tebogo Job Mokgoro, on the provincial Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Plan
Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the media,
MEC for Health, Hon Madoda Sambatha
Our Medical Specialists, Prof John Tumbu and Prof Binu Luke
Ms Grace Tsele who is COVID-19 Coordinator
Ke rata go lo lebogela gore lo be tlile ka kwano mosong ono, go tla go nna le rona jaaka re tla go itsise baagi ba Bokone Bophirima ka lenaneo la rona la go phasalatsa moento wa COVID-19, go ya ka dikaelo tsa Lefapha la Bosechaba la Boitekanelo.
Re le puso ya Bokone Bophirima, re thankgolotse maiteko a rona go lwantsha go anama ga mogare wa Covid-19 ngwaga yo o fetileng, kgwedi ya Moranang e rogwa kwa motseng wa Motswedi kwa mmasepaleng wa selegae wa Ramotshere Moiloa.
Re tsamaile metse le metsana ya Province ya rona, re ruta baagi ka mogare ono, le gore ba ka dira jang go itshireletsa kgatlhanong le COVID-19.
On Thursday, 5 March 2020 the National Institute for Communicable Disease confirmed the first COVID-19 case in South Africa.
Since then, we have been engaged in a serious battle to contain this pandemic.
We used lockdowns and all forms of prevention methods to curtail the spread of the virus.
While these methods are still applicable, it was always possible that sooner or later, the world will find a vaccine or vaccines in the fight to curtail the devastating effect of COVID-19.
Nations all over the world have been working around the clock to develop vaccines and earlier in the month of January this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a breakthrough in vaccine development in India and further indicated that South Africa has entered into an agreement to procure doses of the vaccine.
We converge here this morning on the same day that we expect the Coronavirus Vaccine to arrive in our country.
President Cyril Ramaphosa o tla amogela moento yoo fa o goroga mo thapameng ya gompieno mo nageng; ke ka moo re setseng re le malala-a-laotswe go ka itsise baagi ba Bokone Bophirima le Afrika Borwa ka kakaretso gore lenanao la rona re a go le tsharolola ka tsela e e ntseng jang.
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize last week revealed details of the first phase of COVID-19 inoculations.
He indicated that South Africa's first batch of COVID-19 vaccines will arrive this morning, but further explained that it will take at least 10 days before they are distributed countrywide.
Minister Mkhize added that the doses will be reserved for healthcare workers on the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus. We also know that another batch of COVAX-supplied vaccines, sufficient to inoculate 10 percent of the population are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of the year.
Minister Mkhize also told us that government’s goal is to vaccinate 67 percent of South Africans by the end of 2021.
What is key to this development is how Provinces have prepared themselves for the management, distribution and dispensing of the vaccine.
We have therefore called you here this morning to provide you with information on the Province’s COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Plan.
Our plan points out to the fact that vaccination is just one of many interventions required to prevent morbidity and mortality.
In essence, this means that immunized individuals will still need to adhere to the already existing prevention measures, which include maintain social distance, wearing of masks when in public or in contact with others as well as washing our hands with water and soap or alternatively using alcohol-based sanitizers.
Ladies and gentlemen, this vaccine will indeed help us to achieve herd immunity and prevent ongoing transmission.
Re a dumela Bagaetsho gore moento o wa COVID19 o tla re thusa re le puso mme re le Sechaba go ka kgona go bona pholo e e nnetseng ruri, le go re sireletsa kgatlhanong le tshelelana ga mogare mo isagong.
When a person gets vaccinated against a disease, their risk of infection is also reduced with regard to personal protection.
We believe that vaccination will also assist to lower the possibility for a pathogen to circulate in the community and protects those who cannot be vaccinated (due to health conditions, like allergies, or their age) from the disease targeted by the vaccine.
The vaccination process will follow three phases – Phase 1 being limited doses, Phase 2 large number of doses will be available while Phase 3 will be continued vaccination or a shift to a routine strategy.
The Province’s vaccine rollout plan is based on the following key pillars:
- Governance, co-ordination and planning
- Identification and prioritisation of target population
- Vaccine allocation and vaccination site readiness
- Human resources including training and supervision
- Vaccine administration, cold chain, logistics and infrastructure
- Safety surveillance
- Data management, information systems and monitoring and evaluation
- Communication and Demand creation
- Budgeting
We have also established governance structures to oversee the success of the rollout plan.
These are Consultative Platform (Legislature members and Civil Society) and the Political Steering Committee (EXCO members chaired by the Premier).
On the administration side, we have the Vaccine Roll-out Coordinating Team made up of the Departmental officials, officials from private sector, business, organized labour and this is chaired by the Accounting Officer.
Noting the phases of vaccination that start with limited doses, we have prioritised the population in line with the National Department of Health guidelines.
Vaccination will be done in accordance with the following population prioritization:
- Health Care Workers
- Essential Services Workers
- Vulnerable Communities
- All Other Community Members
This population prioritization is done according to the risk of workplace exposure and the following is a breakdown:
- Frontline Health Care Professionals, Non-Professional Health Workers and support staff at high-risk units
- Casualty wards, Radiology units, Laboratories, COVID screening unit, COVID wards and COVID field hospitals
- Medical wards, paediatric wards, Dispensaries, Mortuaries, forensic pathology units, quarantine facilities, food handlers, and the patient administration office at casualty/OPD
- Emergency response staff and support staff in all Emergency Medical Services
- Clinical staff (Specialists, Doctors, Nurses, Psychologists, pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, radiographers) and support staff (Porters, cleaners, clerical staff) in the medium risk units (Maternity, surgical wards, Outpatient department, theatres, main Pharmacy, gates)
- Clinical and support staff at Primary Health Care fixed facilities and mobile services
- Staff involved in low-risk activities including community outreach programmes such as Community Health Workers, environmental Health Officials, School Health Programmes and Health Programmes
- Managers, Social workers, psychologists
- Administrative staff in health establishments
When it comes to essential workers, they include those in the Public Sector (SAPS, SAPO, Home Affairs, SANDF, Department of Labour, Education, Correctional Services, Social Workers, and Transport inclusive of trains and airports).
In the Private Sector, they include those in Mining, Retail, Agriculture, Transport and other Big Businesses.
The prioritised vulnerable communities include people aged 65 Years and Older and the Elderly who live in Old Age Care Homes as well as their Staff, Prisoners and People who are institutionalized, people older than 18 years with co-morbidities, the Judiciary, Legislature, Executive, Local Government and other identified Community Members.
I can confirm that we have completed vaccination allocation and ensured readiness of the vaccination sites.
The distribution plan has been completed for phase 1. Subsequently, vaccination will only be done at registered and certified vaccination sites.
For the first part of Phase 1, public and private hospitals in the provinces are targeted to be vaccination sites as they have infrastructure sufficient to cater for this activity.
The North West Province has identified 21 vaccination sites and these are in final stages of preparation and compliance checking of the sites is underway.
We have ensured that vaccination sites are able to administer 500 doses per day made of 10 doses per vial, 50 vials per box and a box must be used up on the same day it is opened as the vaccine is light sensitive.
We have ensured training of our human resource and this included supervision once we begin vaccination. Vaccinators have been allocated and are undergoing training.
Vaccination site curators have also been appointed and staff pre-registration commenced on 27 January 2021.
Facility based vaccination of personnel at health facilities and establishments will be done in the following phases that is informed by the risk of exposure
- Phase 1: High Risk units
- Phase 2: Medium Risk Units
- Phase 3: Low risk units
In all cases vaccination will to start with Implementing Team Members about 7 days before Rollout as they stand to be exposed to huge numbers of People.
The Vaccine roll-out plan is based on current available information and will continuously be updated. We also have in place systems to minimise vaccine wastage.
The vaccination system is based on pre-vaccination registration and appointment system for vaccination and thus records of all who are vaccinated.
All vaccinated persons will be on a national register and will be provided with a vaccination card.
Batho botlhe bao ba tla tlhabiwang ka moento wa COVID19, ba tla kwadisiwa bosechaba mme gape ba tla neelwa karata eo e supang fa ba entilwe.
The Provincial rollout coordinating team will oversee the rollout including both the public and private sectors.
Vaccination sites will have an observation area where persons who have been vaccinated will be observed for 15 minutes for any side effects.
The vaccines in transit will also be safe guarded.
In terms of data management, a National Data system have been set up for monitoring vaccine uptake and coverage, prioritization, planning, safety monitoring and vaccine effectiveness studies.
To meet anticipated needs of stakeholders, electronic vaccination data system (EVDS) has been developed.
This EVDS supports collection and provision of the following information:
- Patient information (including demographics, number of doses, etc.)
- Health establishment where service is accessible (name and type, e.g., clinic)
- Vaccine administered (manufacturer, batch number, etc.)
- Safety information as part of a pharmacovigilance plan (Adverse Events Following Immunization – AEFI)
- A record of vaccination issued to individuals where appropriate and required
A communication and social mobilization strategy has been developed to ensure that all our citizens are well informed about the vaccine and the rollout plan.
A lot of work still needs to be done to dispel misconceptions and fears regarding the vaccination process.
Mme fela moento ga o reye gore batho ba se ke ba tlhokomela melawana eo e ntseng e le mo tirisong go lwantsha go anama ga COVID19.
Re tshwanetse go tswelela go netefatsa fa re rwala dipiba melemo le dinko (masks) ka dinako tsotlhe fa re na le bangwe ka rona, re tswelele go tlhapa matsogo ka metsi le sesepa kgotsa go dira alcohol based sanitizer kgapetsa kgapetsa le go netefatsa fa go nna sekgala sa dimitara le halofo (meter and a half) magareng ga rona le bangwe ka rona.
Fa re dira mmogo, re ka dira go le gontsi go lwantsha le go fedisa kanamo ya COVID19.
I thank you.
