DURBAN - THE restaurant and freight sectors have called on the Department of Health to prioritise the vaccination of their employees, saying they were as important as the frontline workers who are exposed to Covid-19 infections.
This follows the arrival yesterday at OR Tambo International Airport of the first batch of one million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India.
This marks the start of the most complex logistical vaccine rollout in South Africa’s history. This will kick off in the next two weeks after quality testing with the vaccination of healthcare workers in the first of three phases.
Restaurant Association of South Africa (Rasa) chief executive Wendy Alberts said they have had no engagement with the government about the rollout of the vaccine. She said they would be pushing Health Minister Zweli Mkhize to inform them of the roll-out details.
“It’s imperative… the restaurant workers definitely need to get vaccinated first. They are as important as frontline staff… I mean they deal with 40, 50, 60 interfaces on a daily basis so it's imperative that they do get preference,” said Alberts.
Road Freight Association (RFA) chief executive Gavin Kelly said that unlike other countries, the freight and logistics industries were not seen as crucial and would be vaccinated in the last batch.
“We have written giving our reasoning for being among the first as essential,” he said.
Kelly said the danger of not including the industries among the first to be vaccinated could result in the freight and logistics system coming to a halt.
“(There would be) no more distribution of any goods, including medicines, food and vaccines,” he said.
Sifiso Nyathi, general secretary of the All Truck Drivers Foundation (ATDF), said it was no surprise that the trucking industry was not prioritised to be among the first to be vaccinated.
He said that since the start of the pandemic, truck drivers had continued working as essential workers despite the dangers.
“We are treated like animals… no one cares about us but we are steering the economy of this country,” said Nyathi.
Other countries appreciated their drivers but in South Africa they are treated very poorly, he said. While loading and off-loading trucks documents were constantly being exchanged which could contribute to the spread of the virus.
National Taxi Alliance (NTA) spokesperson Theo Malele said that after taxi drivers, queue marshals and other taxi personal should be included in the list of priority categories to be vaccinated.
Malele said it was dangerous and counter-productive to exclude the taxi industry from the first line of vaccinations.
Following the NTA’s call for inclusion, he said the Department of Health had announced that the taxi industry, which transports more than 15 million commuters daily, would be included.
“Our victory in this regard is a victory for the entire taxi industry,” he said.
Malele said the NTA would agree to its members being vaccinated after the vaccine has been quality tested.
“The NTA finds comfort in the fact that quality assurance will be conducted by South African scientists and only then will we agree on the inoculation of our drivers and marshals as frontline workers,” he said.
The chairperson of the Covid-19 vaccine ministerial advisory committee, Professor Barry Schoub, said that when discussing the phases of the rollout, it should be remembered that the country was dealing with an epidemic of an infectious disease.
He said that not only should individuals be protected, but the rest of the population as well to stop outbreaks.
“That’s why we have to use these criteria where we have to put people in the various phases,” said Schoub.
People in the second phase of the rollout, he said, should include people in congregate settings, the elderly, people with underlying illnesses, key personnel like teachers and others who are key to the economy.
The Mercury