Breaking: SA vaccine rollout to open for those over 50, here are the details

Here it is Mzansi! South Africa’s vaccine rollout will soon open up to those over the age of 50-years-old. Acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane together with Public Service and Administration Minister Mchunu and a panel of experts held a media briefing early on Friday morning 25 June and what was discussed has come as a relief to some. 

VACCINE ROLLOUT TO OPEN TO THOSE OVER 50, HERE ARE THE DETAILS

According to Kubayi, the SA vaccine rollout will soon open up to other phases. In other words, registrations for those 50 years and older will open on 1 July and vaccines administered for those 50 years and older will begin on 15 July.

While SA has almost vaccinated a total of 2.5 million people, there is still a lot of work to be done and we are nowhere close to being out of the woods. 

“From 1 July 2021, we will open registrations for all citizens [who] are between the ages of 50 years and above and we will also schedule those vaccinations to begin on 15 July,” said Kubayi-Ngubane. 

“I encourage all citizens to register and get their vaccine,” she added. 

So far, Pfizer has delivered nearly 4.5 million doses in quarter 2 and SA is expecting 2.1 million doses in July. Johnson and Johnson have so far delivered 500 000 early access doses for Sisonke and 1.2 million doses landed in SA on Thursday. 

“These doses all need to be used by 11 August and I think we are on track in terms of working to ensure that we utilise these doses,” she added. 

HEALTH MINISTER TO MEET WITH MAC ON SATURDAY 

Kubayi-Ngubane says she will be meeting with the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on Saturday to discuss the response needed for the COVID-19 surge the country is experiencing. In other words, an address from President Cyril Ramaphosa may soon be on the cards. 

Gauteng, in particular, is taking severe strain with COVID-19 cases spiralling out of control, so much so, that is driving the third wave in South Africa. 

During a Provincial Coronavirus Command Council (PCCC) briefing on Thursday 24 June, Dr Mary Kawonga, said the pandemic trajectory has continued on track to the worst case scenario and should peak in the first week of July. She also said it’s very clear that Alert Level 1 measures did not work and that it was insufficient. 

Kawonga said recent infections and the positivity rate is very worrying and tighter restrictions may be what is needed. 

“We need tighter restrictions and that might require government-imposed non-pharmaceutical interventions, in other words, the lockdown measures that the NCCC often makes a decision about,” she said.  

“The recommendations we’ve been making to the provincial command council and the premier is that Level 5 is way too stringent and would have a disastrous effect on the economy and people’s livelihoods and also it’s quite late in the pandemic trajectory to expect to see a big impact,” she added. 

Kawonga said one of the things they have been proposing is perhaps a hybrid of existing Level 3 measures together with some level 4 measures in one if possible.