Province says vaccination of over 60s to begin in May
THE provincial health department is scaling up health care worker vaccinations in time to launch phase two of the vaccination process which will start in May with people aged over 60.
The department hopes to have completed immunising health-care workers by the end of April.
Speaking during Premier Alan Winde’s regular digital news conference update on Covid-19 and vaccinations, head of health Dr Keith Cloete said: “Priority will be given to people aged 60 and above and we estimate we will have about 2 million people to cover in this phase.”
Phase two will also cover essential workers such as teachers, the police and people with comorbidities.
“In preparation for phase two, the province has estimated it will need to deploy 4 489 vaccinators and has so far trained 2 416. We’ve learned from international best practice that the key to a successful vaccination programme is a highly organised and efficient logistics set up.”
With regard to trauma admissions over the Easter weekend, Premier Winde thanked citizens of the province for adhering to the government’s safety message during the holiday.
“This really made a difference. It looks like we brought trauma numbers down and are continuing with flattening the curve.”
The health department said the Cape Winelands was seeing an increase in Covid-19 cases among young people under 30. It said clusters at Stellenbosch University are being monitored and are mostly under control.
Cloete clarified that the infections at the university had nothing to do with the case of the institution’s Rector and Vice-Chancellor Wim de Villiers, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. De Villiers is currently in self-isolation for 10 days.
In a statement De Villiers said: “I do not know where I contracted the disease, but I just realised again today that the disease is a serious matter.
“For this reason, I encourage the public and our campus community to follow the necessary protocols to limit the spread of Covid-19.”