School children start arriving for Covid vaccination

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The first children in the Garden Route in the age group 12 to 17 years began arriving at vaccination centres for Covid-19 vaccination yesterday, Wednesday 20 October, when vaccination for this age group opened up.

Before the newspaper went to press, district health spokesperson Nadia Ferreira could not give an indication of the amount of interest among the young ones, but she said they arrived from the morning onwards.

The national Department of Health last week announced that Pfizer vaccines would be available for children in this group. They would initially receive only one dose in accordance with advice from the vaccine ministerial advisory committee.

In the meantime, information is being assessed about a number of cases over the world of temporary myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) in young men and boys after two doses. National Health Minister Joe Phaahla said a decision would be made about the timing of the second dose when further information on this side-effect is available.

Additional doses for persons with compromised immunity are also now allowed.

Booster dose for healthcare workers

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has applied to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) to consider a Johnson & Johnson booster for healthcare workers. Their vaccination began about eight months ago in February under the Sisonke study.

The national health department said a booster vaccination drive could serve as a second study on the possible benefit of enhanced immunity with a booster of the otherwise one-dose vaccine.

Sputnik V vaccine application on hold

Sahpra did not approve the Russian developed Sputnik V vaccine because of concerns that it may increase the risk of vaccinated men contracting HIV. The application was brought by Lamar International Pty (Ltd), the locally licenced distribution company.

According to a statement by Sahpra this week, two clinical trials showed that the vaccine is associated with enhanced susceptibility to HIV in men. The review of the vaccine is remaining open for submission of relevant safety data in support of the application.

Garden Route nearer to vaccination target

Ferreira said the department is actively sending outreach teams to vaccinate as many people as possible and the district is slowly moving towards its target of 70% fully vaccinated persons above the age of 50 years and 70% partially vaccinated for the age group 18 to 49 years.

"The Garden Route had a 1% increase in vaccinations for 18 years and older with at least one dose and stands at 45%," she said. "The percentage of the total population for the Garden Route that has received at least one dose stands at 31%. This is also a 1% increase from the previous week."

Garden Route Covid cases still declining

The number of active Covid-19 cases in the Garden Route is still declining. As at Tuesday 19 October, there were 62 active cases per 100 000 people compared with 89 cases per 100 000 a week earlier.

Ferreira said the situation for the district as a whole has improved. "Although some district hospitals still see pockets of Covid-19 inpatients, decreased pressure is seen across the district. All subdistricts are planning to start escalating services again that were either stopped or rendered with decreased capacity during the third wave."

Mobile vaccination teams in the Garden Route are on a mission to vaccinate as many people as possible. This mobile clinic made vaccinations available at the taxi rank in Thembalethu.