Cape Town - The professional training of between 400 and 500 Covid-19 vaccinators in the Western Cape will begin today, says Premier Alan Winde.
This comes after the premier welcomed the news that the first batch of vaccines had arrived in the country on Monday, and that the province was looking forward to its arrival.
The vaccine will undergo quality control by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, before they are distributed to provinces.
Winde anticipates the vaccine’s arrival in the province after an expected shortened period.
“While we await further information from the national government on how many doses the province will receive, we have identified 105 000 health-care workers in public, private and civil society settings, who are eligible to be vaccinated.
“We have already identified 378 public sector sites, at various health-care facilities where this will be done. Additional private sector sites will be confirmed over the coming days.”
Winde said a single vaccinator could vaccinate between 40 and 50 people a day. An estimated 400 and 500 vaccinators would be needed in phase one of the rollout.
"Professional training for vaccinators in the province will begin on Tuesday, and we will provide an update once this process has begun. Once this training has been completed, all systems will be in place for phase 1 of the rollout.“
Winde said Phases 2 and 3 would be more complex due to the larger numbers of people eligible in each phase and the need to reach people in remote communities across the province.
“In phase 2, we estimate needing to vaccinate up to 2 million essential workers, people in congregate settings and vulnerable groups including people older than 60, and anyone older than 18 with high-risk comorbidities,” Winde said.
“In phase 3, a further 2.9 million people over the age of 18 will be eligible to be vaccinated.”
The Western Cape Department of Health is working to identify vaccination sites for the second and third phases. Each site and vaccinator must also be accredited.
“This is the biggest vaccine drive that the province and the country has ever undertaken and we do not underestimate the enormity or the importance of the task ahead of us,” Winde said.
“This programme will allow us to protect residents against Covid-19 and ensure that we get the balance right between saving lives and livelihoods.
“We have committed to rolling out the vaccine openly, transparently and ethically.”
Previously, the premier said the Biovac Institute would distribute vaccines to the provinces, and then once they had arrive in the province, the Western Cape Department of Health would be responsible for distribution and which would be undertaken by the Central Medical Depot.
“The depot will distribute vaccines to our provincial health-care facilities, City of Cape Town facilities as well as to the private sector facilities,” he said.
* For more information on the vaccine and its roll out in the province, visit dedicated vaccines page at: https://coronavirus.westerncape.gov.za/covid-19-vaccination
Cape Argus