President leads the way as EC rolls out vaccines
Vaccination process for health workers begins to speed up at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital
There was joy and excitement as the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines arrived at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha on Wednesday.
All the health workers who spoke to the Dispatch were upbeat, looking forward to receiving their injections.
Although the vaccines arrived at around 11am, the first jab took place at about 3pm after technological delays in getting the voucher that allows people to get the valuable injection.
The vaccines arrived quietly out of media spotlight and were kept at one of the hospital’s research sites about 3km from the hospital.
Only two doses in a small cooler box arrived.
It was the hospital’s acting clinical director, Dr Mzulungile Nodikida, and Professor Chucks Ekpebegh of the internal medicine unit who were the first to get the vaccine.
“I am very happy. It is a painless injection. There is no pain, there is no itching. I am completely normal,” said Nodikida.
“I have confidence that this will work and I am happy to be among the first to receive it.”
Sister Nomaroma Somana, who is running the Nelson Mandela Covid ward, said she was overjoyed to see the vaccine.
“I am looking forward to all the health workers being vaccinated and I am sure that with God’s grace we will defeat the coronavirus. I am very happy that the vaccine has eventually come to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital.
“I regard this vaccine as the road to health. I was afraid earlier on but I remembered that I was vaccinated for polio and I have never had polio. I am grateful to President Cyril Ramaphosa and health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize.”
Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital pharmaceutical head Ncediwe Nongawuza said once the vaccine was taken out of fridge, it would expire on the same day.
Nodikida said the vaccines were first kept at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital research council where testing was done.
“We have received 2,460 vials. We are very happy. We met our staff in the morning and encouraged them to register online. We explained to them we were very lucky at this hospital because this vaccine was tested here at our research centre. Professor Thozama Dubula was the lead researcher.
“He was the one explaining to the health workers how the whole trial process went. They had an opportunity to interact with him and dismiss the myths. It’s going to be an ongoing process. No action will be taken against any of those who feel unwilling to take it. Nobody will be forced,” said Nodikida.
Acting head of the health department, Dr Sibongile Zungu, said the province received 5,500 vaccine vials.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said he believed the countrywide vaccination process would be smooth and straightforward. “It is going to be done effectively and as we get more and more of these vaccines, as the minister brings them in, I think we will be able to vaccinate up to the 40 million South Africans that we should.”
Speaking shortly after being innoculated with the newly acquired Johnson & Johnson vaccine at Khayelitsha District Hospital in the Western Cape, Ramaphosa thanked the staff for their efficiency in administering the vaccines, which arrived in SA on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa and Mkhize were among the first South Africans to be vaccinated.
“Minister Mkhize spent sleepless nights making sure the change from the earlier vaccines that we had acquired — which were found to be not so effective against the variant we have — happened so quickly and so smoothly.
“I can tell you now that he spent sleepless nights sending me text messages almost every hour and it was a joy to finally get his text message that ‘President, the plane has now left Brussels,’ and then he showed me the photograph of the plane as it was being loaded and every step of the way.
“So I am really glad and he’s been so focused and working so hard, so thank you, minister and MEC Dr [Nomafrench] Mbombo would like to thank you too. I did say that our provinces are really ready for the vaccination process and I was glad to see that there are many people that have been trained here.”
Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s spokesperson, Mvusiwekhaya Sicwetsha, told the Dispatch that there were no plans yet for Mabuyane to take the vaccine.
Nehawu OR Tambo regional secretary Nombulelo Maphempeni did not know anything about the plans to roll out the vaccine in the region. But she implored healthcare workers to go and receive their jabs at Nelson Mandela Academic hospital.
“Our stance as a union is that registered health workers should go and get the vaccine for their own safety.”
Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said health MEC Sindiswa Gomba had not yet received a jab, adding that frontline workers were the focus for the department at present.