Pop-up vax sites at voting stations and vouchers for the elderly help fight Covid-19
Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla said on 29 October that he was more worried about the weekend’s political rallies becoming superspreader events than election day itself as the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) announced its safety protocols for 1 November – and added that thumbs will still be marked.
Extensive safety protocols had been put in place for the local government elections on 1 November, including the use of “canisters” to disinfect frequently touched surfaces, said the deputy chairperson of the IEC, Janet Love, at a Department of Health briefing. She said voters will still have their thumbs marked once they finish voting.
Liquid spray hand sanitiser, disposable sanitising wipes, bins with lids for cotton buds that will be used for inking thumbs and other PPE, and canisters with disinfectants for the sanitising of voting stations had been issued, Love said.
She said special votes would be collected from the homes of people who had registered to vote in this way.
It would not be possible for people who are isolating because of exposure to someone with confirmed Covid-19 to vote. Love said on voting day voters will have to be spaced 1.5 metres apart from each other and the wearing of masks by party agents, voters and officials will be compulsory. These protocols were tested with success during by-elections.
Phaahla said the country currently had a low rate and incidence of Covid-19 infections: 18,568 active cases compared to more than 46,000 cases a month ago. New cases fell 22% over the past seven days, the country’s hospitalisation rate by 14.5%, and the case fatality rate by 18%. Only 1.7% of tests done currently had positive results.
But, he warned, if the country lowered its guard now it would lead to “serious catastrophe”. Lifting the State of Disaster, Phaahla said, would deprive the government of the means to help people keep safe. Risky behaviour could lead to another strict lockdown.
It was too early to tell if any election-related activities had caused a spike in infection rates, he said, but political rallies over the weekend held the highest risk – especially where there would be singing, shouting and ululating.
He appealed to all political parties to approach the weekend’s rallies with caution and stick to the limitation in terms of disaster management regulations: 2,000 for outdoor meetings and 750 indoors.
“We will only know if we came through the elections safely on 15 November,” he said.
He said the IEC had allowed for pop-up vaccination stations to be set up at voting stations. These, Phaahla said, will be set up outside the areas marked for voting.
Priority would be given to the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine but Pfizer vaccines will also be available, especially for those who still need a second dose.
He said fast food company Nandos had donated R500,000 in vouchers for the best-performing vaccine teams on voting day and Uber had offered free rides of R100 each to health workers on election day.
Deputy Minister of Health Dr Sibusiso Dhlomo said that, although vaccination would be available at some voting stations, 1 November is voting day first.
The government would not coerce anyone to be vaccinated. “We just want to make it easier for people to get vaccinated,” he said.
The Department of Health also announced that people over the age of 60 will be rewarded with a R100 “Vooma voucher” from Shoprite/Checkers for getting vaccinated in November.
The initiative is sponsored by various trusts and foundations. “We hope the pilot will be a success so that it can encourage other companies to come forward,” said Phaahla.
The voucher could help offset travel costs, which have been identified as a major barrier to vaccination, especially for those living on only an old-age grant. Other initiatives, such as the Getting to the Gogos programme, are reaching the elderly.
He said that, so far, 22.1 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, with 15 million individuals having received at least one jab – 37.9% of the adult population – while 12.1 million, or 30% of the adult populations, are now fully vaccinated. The aim is to reach 40% by the end of November.
“We are especially optimistic about reaching 70% of the age group above 60 ... and close to 70% of the 50-59 years before the end of December 2021.
“We again urge everyone to take advantage of the current low levels of infection before the fourth wave hits. The vaccination of 12- to 17-year-olds is proceeding steadily, with 99,900 done by 29 October and 183,700 registered. We expect the numbers to pick up during the school holidays,” he added.
So far, 2.8 million vaccination certificates have been downloaded.
Teams are working on improving the security of the certificate.
The acting director-general in the Department of Health, Dr Nicholas Crisp, said 13% of people who got a first Pfizer shot did not return for the second within 100 days.