KZN vaccine rollout: Premier Sihle Zikalala explains how it will work

KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala has explained the details of the province’s vaccine rollout. He has confirmed that the vaccine will arrive on 14 February 2020.

Zikalala held a briefing together with Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu on Tuesday 2 February 2020 to provide updates on the COVID-19 situation in the province.

KZN VACCINE ROLLOUT PLAN IN THREE PHASES

During the briefing, Zikalala said that the plan will be divided into three phases where phase one will focus on staff that has direct contact with patients namely; healthcare workers and support staff. Phase 2 will focus on essential workers and include 60-year-olds and people with comorbidities. Phase 3 will focus on everyone else who is above 18 years. Over 67 000 staff in both phases 1 and 2 will receive the vaccine.

READ: COVID-19: KZN deaths at ‘catastrophic level’, says premier

The province’s first beneficiaries include among others; public sector healthcare staff (medical doctors, dentists, pharmacists, emergency medical services, nurses, and interns) traditional healers, and staff providing social services.

Per district this is roughly the number of staff (both clinical and supporting) the province plans to vaccinate:

Amajuba – 3573

Ethekwini – 20 360

Harry Gwala – 2935

Head Office of the Department of Health – 1155

Ilembe- 3534

King Cetshwayo – 6227

Ugu – 4752

UMgungundlovu – 9093

UMkhanyakude – 4596

UMzinyathi – 3625

Uthukela – 3389

Zululand – 4395

The KwaZulu-Natal province has also identified 91 vaccination sites which includes public hospitals and community healthcare centres. Zikalala added that everyone who has been vaccinated will be observed for a while before being discharged.

READ: SA’s vaccine lands – but there’s still a way to go before the first jab is given

STATE OF COVID-19 IN KZN

To date, KwaZulu-Natal is the second highest in the country in terms of confirmed cases.

“Ethekwini district continues to record the highest number of cases daily and King Cetshwayo is the highest. The second wave has been more severe than the first wave in terms of death. UMgungundlovu district has the highest death followed by eThekwini, Amajuba and King Cetshwayo. However, the province has witnessed a 51% decline in active cases in the past three weeks. Zikalala said.

Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu said that the province has trained about 2000 nurses to ensure that the province does not run out of human resource when phase 2 and 3 start. Simelane-Zulu added that healthcare workers and other public members will not be forced to vaccinate as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his address on Monday 1 February 2020.