WESTERN CAPE NEWS - Premier Alan Winde said in a media statement earlier today, "We welcome the arrival today of the first batch of vaccines in the country and look forward to receiving the Western Cape's first doses."
The first one million doses in South Africa have been reserved for healthcare workers, who have been at the forefront of the country's response to Covid-19 and who must be protected.
The vaccine will undergo quality control processes by SAHPRA before they are distributed to the provinces.
We anticipate their arrival in the province after an expected shortened period, and stand ready to start the vaccination process.
While we await further information from the national government on how many doses the province will receive, we have identified 105 000 healthcare workers in public, private and civil society settings, who are eligible to be vacinated. We have already identified 378 public sector sites, at various healthcare facilities where this will be done. Additional private sector sites will be confirmed over the coming days.
We have determined, based on experience, that a single vaccinator can vaccinate between 40 and 50 people a day. We estimate that we will need between 400 and 500 vaccinators for phase one. Professional training for vaccinators in the province will begin tomorrow, 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. Phases 2 and 3 will be significantly 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 co-morbidities. In phase 3, a further 2.9 million people over the age of 18 will be eligible to be vaccinated.
Our Department of Health is currently working to identify vaccination sites for the 2nd and 3rd roll out phases, as well as the vaccinators who will be working at each site. 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. 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.
To remain safe from Covid-19, it is imperative that we all continue to wear our masks, practice social distancing, hygiene and handwashing so that we can save lives, reduce active infections and allow more of our economy to open up safely.
For more information on the vaccine and its roll out in the province, visit our dedicated vaccines page here.
Update on the coronavirus
As of 13:00 on 1 February, the Western Cape has 12 994 active Covid-19 infections with a total of 266 939 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 243 642 recoveries.
The Western Cape has recorded 63 additional deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 10 303. We send our condolences to their loved ones at this time.
Garden Route District:
- Bitou - 2641 cases, 2487 recoveries
- George - 11450 cases, 10712 recoveries
- Hessequa - 1878 cases, 1731 recoveries
- Kannaland - 787 cases, 735 recoveries
- Knysna - 4710 cases, 4464 recoveries
- Mossel Bay - 7114 cases, 6775 recoveries
- Oudtshoorn - 3755 cases, 3363 recoveries
Additional data is available on the Western Cape Covid-19 data dashboard which also features active cases per sub-district, active cases per 100 000 and 7-day moving averages. Access the data dashboard here.
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