Vaccines for private staff

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced that a third of available vaccine doses will be for private healthcare workers.

“Following productive discussions with stakeholders from the private sector, the national department of health and the Sisonke programme have allocated one-third of all vaccine doses available for private healthcare workers.

“This means that one-third of the first 80 000 vaccines will be allocated to the private sector over the next 14 days,” the minister said.

“All healthcare workers, irrespective of where they work, need to be vaccinated.

“This is critical and is aligned with the national prioritisation framework for phase 1 of the national vaccine rollout programme.”

Mkhize made the announcement on

Sunday, as general practitioners lined up to get their Johnson & Johnson jabs.

He said the collaboration with the private sector culminated in the delivery of the first round of private sector healthcare worker vaccinations.

“The programme has already vaccinated more than 3 000 healthcare workers from the private sector.”

The Sisonke Early Access Programme was launched last Wednesday.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, used in the Sisonke programme, provides 57% protection against moderate to severe disease, 85% protection against severe disease and 100% protection against death, based on evidence from clinical trials that included South African participants.

By the end of Saturday, more than 10 000 healthcare workers had already been vaccinated.