Cape Town – Posing as a health-care worker to jump the vaccination queue will not be accepted, Premier Alan Winde said at the latest Covid-19 provincial digicon.
“We are putting extra measures in place, double checking the validity of that front-line worker. We need to make sure all our front-line workers are protected.
’’We have seen in other parts of our country people posing as health-care workers, trying to get ahead of deserving front-line workers. That is not acceptable,” Winde said.
By yesterday, the province recorded a total of 274 469 confirmed cases and 11098 deaths. For the sixth week in a row the province has recorded decreases in the key Covid-19 indicators.
Health Department chief operating officer Dr Saadiq Kariem said the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine will be arriving in four tranches over eight weeks. The first tranche of vaccines was received on February 17, and contained 13 160 doses for private and public sectors.
“The number of vaccination sites will be increased from four sites in tranche 1 to seven sites in tranche 2, with seven more sites coming on board in tranche 3,” said Kariem.
It is anticipated that 40% of healthcare workers would be covered over the eight-week period. Prioritisation also needed to happen within facilities, considering individual vulnerability by age, individual vulnerability by co-morbidities and risk of exposure and so forth. So far 1 444 vaccinators have been trained.
Storage for the Pfizer vaccine at a minus 70ºC temperature has also been confirmed in the province for up to 450 000 vials of vaccines.