Vaccine registration starts on 16 April as SA secures 51 million doses of vaccines

Electronic registration for everyone who wishes to be vaccinated against Covid-19 will open on 16 April and an expanded roll-out of vaccines to the elderly, workers over 40 and those in congregate settings like old-age homes and prisons will start on 17 May, the National Department of Health announced on 9 April.

Dr Leslie Bamford, who is co-ordinating the roll-out programme, said registration would be open for all, but the vaccines will be rolled out in two phases, the first starting on 17 May and the next on 17 October.

Bamford was presenting details of the plan to civil society and other stakeholders.

She said the department’s supply of vaccines will still be “somewhat constrained” in the second quarter (May to August) but will ease up significantly after that.

She said the Pfizer vaccine, requiring two shots, will be rolled out in the country’s metros, where the necessary facilities are available, whereas rural areas will get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Bamford said the second phase of the country’s vaccination programme (the first having targeted healthcare workers) will target those over 60, workers of 40 years and older and those living in congregate settings such as old-age homes and prisons. She said that although those with comorbidities will not be specifically targeted in Phase 2 of the campaign, she believed most will be covered by the age requirement.

She added that they were still not quite sure when the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine would be arriving in South Africa.

Bamford said that because the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is now locally produced (at Aspen Pharmacare’s facility in Gqeberha) the timeframe of availability would also be shortened – to five days.

The timeframe is longer for imported vaccines.

“We are expecting the first doses from Aspen this month,” she said.

Bamford said facilities for vaccinations to be given will be set up in public venues like schools, halls and shopping centres, but also at doctors’ practices, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.

She said the electronic vaccination data system for self-registration (EVDS) will require an identity document or “equivalent proof”.

She added that provision will be made for registration to be done at vaccination sites for those who can’t access the electronic system.

Bamford added that people will be screened for Covid-19 at the vaccination sites and those who have symptoms will not be vaccinated but instead referred for testing.

Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize said that by 17 May about 500,000 health workers will have been vaccinated as part of the Sisonke Early Access Programme, which uses the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

He said the rest of the health workers, another 600,000 to 700,000 people, will be vaccinated in a process that will run parallel with Phase 2 of the vaccination rollout.

Mkhize said that it had been decided that age would be the determining factor in first access to the vaccine, because age has been a major factor in the hospitalisation of patients with Covid-19.

He said those under 40 will be vaccinated during the third phase.

Mkhize again stressed that the government is committed to ensuring equitable access. He said vaccines will be shared between the private and public sectors and stressed that the “uninsured” will receive equal access to the vaccine.

This week, during a visit to Gauteng, Mkhize said the national government “had really hoped to be much further than we are at the moment; however, circumstances beyond our control have caused an initial delay in the roll-out.

“Nevertheless, we have managed to salvage the AstraZeneca situation: the one million doses we had received were sold to the African Union and distributed to many African countries who have now been able to access vaccines through this process.

“Today, I am pleased to announce that our finance department has confirmed that the Serum Institute of India has fully refunded us for the remaining 500,000 doses that had not yet been delivered and the funds are in our bank account.

“This therefore closes the matter, without incurring fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and we continue to engage AstraZeneca as they pursue their research and development for the next-generation vaccine, which can hopefully deal with the 501Y.V2 variant and other lineages.

“We are, therefore, pleased that we have put this and the most arduous stages of the dealmaking process with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson behind us and that we have now secured a combined 51 million doses of vaccines – 31 million from J&J’s one-dose vaccine and 20 million from Pfizer’s twodose vaccine,” Mkhize said.

On 9 April, he added that they have learned a number of lessons from the early access roll-out of the vaccine through the Sisonke protocol, which gave health workers access to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

He said the Sisonke roll-out has highlighted the importance of good communication and also that the registration criteria needed to be simplified.

Mkhize added that absenteeism among vaccinators had caused some problems during the Sisonke roll-out, and that this must be addressed.

[Bamford] said that although those with comorbidities will not be specifically targeted in Phase 2 of the campaign, she believed most will be covered by the age

requirement