State has been slow on vaccinations, but others are also to blame

On May 17 SA started its national mass vaccination rollout. This was after delays because of a vaccine shortage. While we welcome the start, the snail’s pace is worrying. There are reports of people waiting for confirmation of when and where to go, and others not knowing what to do, particularly elderly people unfamiliar with the technology.

Whatever methods our government has used to mobilise and communicate, it has not reached the targeted people. Why did it opt for a modern way of communicating, knowing SA’s levels of poverty; many people don’t have smartphones or laptops.

The government also failed to communicate clearly about people with underlying conditions and disabilities. When dealing with the magnitude of Covid, bad planning and communication cannot be accepted; people’s lives are at risk with every minute that passes.

We are not oblivious of the enormity of the task, but it seems the government was not fully prepared.

We don’t need to remind anyone of the damage caused by this pandemic, economically and with the loss of human lives. The slow pace of the rollout once more exposes people to the dangers of the pandemic.

While we support our government in the fight, the slow pace and lack of vaccines will affect its plans to beat the disease.

Scientists have warned about the third wave coming at the beginning of June, with some provinces already experiencing it.

We won’t have time to reach the masses, in particular senior citizens, remaining frontline workers and people with underlying conditions. Those people remain at a high risk.

The slow pace of the rollout has drawn criticism of the government from political parties, business organisations, church and religious leaders and civil society. This is justified because at this pace we will not reach herd immunity.

There is one brutal fact to contemplate: each day we delay leads to more death. With continuing deaths and infections, our economy will suffer and recovery will take longer.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and his team must move heaven and earth to make sure that they speed up the rollout for the most vulnerable. A humanitarian disaster must be avoided.

It boggles the mind how smaller countries on our continent, with fewer resources than ours, have started their vaccination rollout.

The late start cannot be blamed only on the government. There is the problem of vaccine nationalism by rich countries that have bought huge stocks, leaving poorer countries with nothing.

We commend Ramaphosa for continuing to raise this issue on the global stage. So far it feels like his is a lone voice, which is a problem.

Where are the leaders of our continent? The rich countries must not be allowed to stockpile vaccines while others are dying of the virus.

This is more than evil, it is immoral. The World Health Organisation must fight hard for access to vaccines for all countries. Global organisations must join the fight to defeat this appalling behaviour by rich countries.

The private sector, big business, civil society and church and religious leaders must continue to support and partner our government to overcome the virus. No one is safe until we all are safe.

The same goes for the political parties. They cannot be bystanders. They have the right to criticise, but this battle is not only for the government to fight.

We can unite and defeat the invisible enemy together. This must be an all-out attack with all hands on deck; we cannot retreat. Working together we can and will overcome.