Cape Town - Despite the imminent roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine and the province’s advanced efforts to purchase a contingency vaccine supply, Premier Alan Winde has said that a third wave of Covid-19 infections is inevitable and the province was already preparing for it.
Winde, who was speaking during his regular digital news conference health update for the province, said: “Last Wednesday at Cabinet we approved the process of our provincial government enabling itself to be able to procure vaccines.
“Following that cabinet agreement I have also communicated with the president informing him exactly what those processes are and what we’ll be doing as a province.”
Winde said: “If there’s a shortfall we are actually in a position to procure those vaccines to top it up and to make sure we mitigate risks as we move forward between the coming down of this wave and of course the third wave which is inevitable.”
“Over the next week or two our epidemiologists will be running the numbers, looking at the way we predict our third wave. Of course between now and the third wave we’ve got to make sure that we keep what we’ve been doing to stay safe and flatten that curve again.”
Head of health Dr Keith Cloete said: “Contingency vaccine acquisition must remain within the core parameters of the national and provincial vaccination programme.”
“It should be: a) Driven by clinical and professional ethics, in terms of both vaccine selection and the phasing of the roll-out or rationing; b) Subject to the necessary regulatory requirements of Sahpra (South African Health Products Regulatory Authority) and the Medicine Control Council; c) Coordinated with national efforts, through regular and transparent communication with the national Health Department and National Treasury and contribution to the overall stock of vaccines available in South Africa.”
“The key elements of the contingency plan are: a) appropriate governance enablement; b) a sourcing strategy that will cover demand forecasting and planning, market analysis and appropriate procurement design.”
Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said: “We have identified 378 public sector facilities and 41 private facilities where vaccination will take place.”
Cape Argus