A tale of two vaccination centres!

Now the first rollout of Sinovac vaccine began on Monday, May 10th, two days before I was given my first shot.

In recent weeks, the President has referred to the COVID- 19 vaccine rollout as ‘ successful and timely.’ And we see on BTV news bulletins and in the Daily News pictures of orderly queues of people at selected vaccination centres. So, one might think that the President’s words, indeed, do ring true across the nation. But is this really so?

Perhaps the BTV film crew should have also visited the Tonota kgotla, the vaccination centre for Tonota village. I first visited the kgotla to get my first shot on Thursday, April 1st. The officers told me that they had finished vaccinating for the day – a total of 100 shots. They then told me to come back the following day, Friday, April 2nd. I then told them that Friday was a public holiday – Good Friday – since I assumed that no vaccinations would be done then. But they said that they would vaccinate, but only 50 people. Taking them at their word, I returned early the next day only to see the place totally deserted. I then went to the main clinic in Tonota where I was told that no vaccinations would be done in Tonota during the Easter long weekend and that I would have to come back the following Tuesday. Now I was surprised at this since later I learnt that people had been vaccinated in Gaborone during the long weekend. Surely the pandemic is serious enough to warrant vaccinations being given during Easter?

I arrived at the Tonota kgotla early on Tuesday, April 6th at about 6.30 am. Here at the gate I saw about 100 people clustered together some sitting on the ground while others were standing. Some of them had been there since 5 am. I hung around for about two hours and failed to even enter the kgotla. Early next morning, a truck went around the village to say that we should come to the kgotla.

I went there only to find multitudes of people again waiting. Once again, we hung around for ages only to be finally told that the vaccines had finished. So, one official wrote our names and cellphone numbers in a hardcover book and that was it!

A few weeks later, the second batch of vaccines arrived in Tonota – these were Sinovac vaccines. Early on the morning of Tuesday, May 11th, a vehicle went around the village once again asking us to come to the kgotla for vaccinations. I thought that this must be the day! Once again, I saw a mass of people waiting and a sheet of paper was handed around on which, yet again, we registered by writing our names and cellphone numbers. But only a few people had their temperatures checked.

By 7.30 am there were some 100 people crowded around the gate and we were told that 50 people would be vaccinated that day and the names of the lucky ones would be taken from the register. Seeing that I was number 45 on the list, I reckoned that finally I might receive my shot; after all, by this time I had been arm ready for some six weeks. But it was not to be! An officer came and said that they had made a mistake and that they had to give preference to those people who had been registered before us but had not yet been vaccinated. She stood on a chair with people crowding around her and blocking the passage of vehicles in and out of the kgotla.

Then she called out 100 names written on two sheets of paper; those who indicated that they were present were allowed in for vaccination. The lady then called out names from lists in a hardcover book; I estimated that there were at least 250 names. Once a total of 50 people had been identified as being present, she then told us that the rest of us, including myself, could not be vaccinated that day. She then called out all the remaining names allocating 50 people for vaccination on each of the following days. I was told to come back for my shot the following Wednesday, May 19th. But having wasted another two hours with nothing to show for it, I wondered as to what story I might be told if I came for vaccination the following Wednesday. Would it be yet another wasted journey?

But I did not wait to find out! Early the next morning, Wednesday, May 12th, I went to the vaccination centre at the park in Block 9 in Francistown but was not at all optimistic about getting my shot there. Arriving at just before 7.30 am, I saw only eight people waiting there. Soon after, a lady came to register our names in the same order as we had arrived. We then entered the park and stools were laid out some two metres apart for us to sit on.

Again, the lady called out our names in the same order for registration and the taking of our temperatures. After this, we were directed to a gazebo from where we, in turn, went into an office to be asked about any underlining conditions that we had and for the COVID- 19 vaccination card to be filled in. Finally, we went to another building where the shots were given. After being vaccinated, I was told to come back for the second shot four weeks later, on Wednesday, June 9th. We were then told to wait for some 20 minutes to see if we had any reaction from the shot. The procedure was very orderly and professional and I left before 9.30 am.

And shortly afterwards, I received an SMS from the Ministry of Health and Wellness stating that I had received my first shot. Good!

On Tuesday, May 18th, I received a call from the Tonota kgotla to come there immediately to be vaccinated since the vaccines were about to run out there. I was pleasantly surprised at this since I never thought that they would ever communicate with me in this way. But I simply told them that I had already been vaccinated the previous week.

On Wednesday, June 9th, I returned to receive my second Sinovac shot at Block 9. But things did not pan as well as expected this time. I arrived just after 7 am and registered with the same lady that registered me before. I was number 23 on the list and so I thought that there would be no problem with receiving the shot on that day. We waited and around 8 am some rumours circulated that there would be no vaccinations that day. Someone then went to the nearby Masego Clinic to find out what was going on. After some time, we were informed that we would only be vaccinated the following Monday, June 14th, and that someone from the clinic would soon visit us and inform us officially. But it seems that that person never came.

We were told that the reason for the postponement of the vaccine rollout was that a mistake had been made concerning the time between the two shots. Instead of four weeks, it should have been a longer period. If this was true, then there is no excuse! Surely the authorities should have known the period of time between the two shots – that is basic information! Now the first rollout of Sinovac vaccine began on Monday, May 10th, two days before I was given my first shot. Hence people received their first shots before me on Monday, May 10th, and Tuesday, May 11th. So those people came to the park four weeks later on Monday, June 7th and Tuesday, June 8th before me to be given their second shots. But like me they were also told that there was no vaccine and that they too should come back for their shots on Monday, June 14th. And yet the second rollout of the Sinovac vaccines was meant to start on Monday June 7th as was advertised in the media.

Now this meant that there would now be a lot of people coming on June 14th for their shots. So, I arrived very early at 5.45 am and was number 26 in the queue. The same lady then registered us a little later and by 7.30 am many more people had arrived. And by 8 am some 140 people had been registered. But to avoid a stampede of people through the gate, the same lady wisely sent us through in batches of ten beginning with those who had arrived first. Once inside, like the previous time, things proceeded very smoothly and I was vaccinated a short time later. Like when I received my first shot, I also received an SMS stating that I had just been given my second shot.

Whilst waiting for my shot, someone told me that he came on Monday, June 7th for his shot but was told that there were no vaccines; they had not yet arrived. Now this shows again a lack of planning in the rollout exercise. We should all have been informed about the lack of vaccines on the days that we were supposed to be given the second shot. After all, the officials knew our cellphone numbers and so all that they had to do was to send an SMS! Now my question is: The two vaccination centres were doing the same job, yet markedly differed in their service delivery. Why? The Tonota kgotla centre could have done much better; after all, it does not take too much skill to organise a local vaccination rollout. The officers concerned do not need a degree in rocket science to perform their duties in an efficient way! And making elderly people return time and time again and hang around for hours is shameful. It reminded me of a time when I attended a workshop at Tonota College of Education that was run by Botswana National Productivity Centre. The aim of the workshop was to look into measures that lecturers could implement so as to be more productive in their work. And the presenter began with a wake- up call for Botswana; recent research showed that Botswana was the least productive nation in SADC! So, is there a lesson for us to learn here? I am now of the opinion that travel restrictions between zones should be relaxed for those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID- 19. And this should be reflected in the procedure which we now follow to apply for a travel permit. The BeSafe application form should now include a question: Have you been fully vaccinated against COVID- 19? And if the answer Yes is given, then we should receive a reply such as: Approved on condition that you present your COVID- 19 Vaccination Card to officials en route to your destination. Such a reply would be welcome rather than our request for travel being rejected. Now that should not be too difficult, should it? In conclusion, the vaccination rollout needs to be better planned; it’s simply a matter of logistics! And the speed at which the rollout is being conducted is far too slow. In three months, we have vaccinated some 150 000 people in Botswana. Let us assume that of our tiny population of just 2.3 million, there are 1.5 million adults. Now that would mean that to give the adult population their first shot, it would take 3 months x 10 = 30 months. And to give the second shot, a further 30 months; that makes a total of five years! The authorities concerned need to get their act together and be more serious in vaccinating the nation! Let us not hear any more excuses!