No security concerns about vaccine’s safety

WITH the province’s vaccination programme gaining momentum as more vaccination sites open and doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, the provincial Health Department assured that there were no safety and security concerns related to any of the sites and that all safety protocols were being adhered to.

This week, vaccinations will kickstart in George, Worcester and Paarl, where previously the Cape Town metro was prioritised due to its proximity to research sites and researchers in the J&J Sisonke implementation study.

The province officially began vaccinating on February 17, with vaccine sites at Groote Schuur Hospital, Tygerberg Hospital, Khayelitsha District Hospital and Karl Bremer Hospital.

Provincial Health Department communications deputy director Mark van der Heever said: “As these vaccines are being rolled out as part of the Sisonke programme/study, the vaccines are received, stored and then transported according to strict study protocols.

“We have had no reported incidents and have full confidence in the protocols being followed.”

According to the Western Cape Government Covid-19 dashboard, the province recorded 3 254 active cases of Covid-19, 275 878 confirmed cases and 261 384 recoveries as of 1pm yesterday. Around 11 240 people have since succumbed to the virus. By 5pm on Wednesday, about 15 295 vaccines were administered to health-care workers.

Meanwhile, Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo praised the cohesive partnership with the private sector and its assistance to the public health-care sector in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We brag about every development, irrespective of whether it is public or private (sector). There are no binaries. “We are all one.” Mbombo said Tygerberg Hospital received the largest consignment of J&J vaccines after Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, in Joburg.