We are living in unprecedented times, which requires unprecedented community spirit, social cohesion and action from each of us to drive the success of the vaccination programme, writes Stavros Nicoloau.
Seventeen long months into the pandemic, as we wait for the third wave to subside, most of us are fatigued, worried for our loved ones, and tired of having our way of life restricted. But there are many signs of hope and indications that with a continued societal effort, we can overcome the challenges this pandemic has thrown at us, and continue to build the future we all want for ourselves, our families and our country.
There is nothing more important, or more urgent, than every adult in our country receiving their vaccine. It is in fact, the best economic policy we can implement, and we all have a role to play in rallying together in the national interest.
Our mass programme is less than three months old, and already South Africa is vaccinating more than 220 000 people a day. We should be proud of the speed at which we have scaled up our vaccinations. Since the start of the national general population rollout, our vaccinations have increased twelve-fold in just over 9 weeks.
At the time of writing, more than 7,5 million doses have been administered in total. 20% of the population have received their first dose and over 3 million South Africans have been fully vaccinated.
The programme has expanded substantially, and in the coming weeks, we aim to have the capacity to administer as many as 420 000 doses a day. If we can reach and maintain that vaccination rate, we will have vaccinated significant swathes of the target of 35-40 million adults vaccinated with at least a first dose before the anticipated fourth wave, expected towards the end of this year.
Proud – and exhausted – as we are, however, now is the time to both maintain this momentum, and do everything in our power to increase vaccination rates. While we will experience a supply constraint this week and next, as the current deliveries are processed through the system, this will be resolved and place us in an enviably vaccine-flush position as a country.
Push the vaccination message
The challenge now is to ensure that people register and show up at the appointed time, especially the elderly. We must use every resource at our disposal to push the vaccination message, to help and encourage people to register, and remove all barriers so that there is no drop-off between registration and vaccination.
We now have proof from dozens of countries that vaccines work. Global scientific data shows us that 99% of those who die from Covid-19, and 95% of those who require hospitalisation, are from unvaccinated populations. It is also in this population that variants thrive, so it is essential for all adults to get vaccinated. The data from our own scientists, data experts and government confirms that the situation is no different in South Africa. Because of the wide reach of this pandemic, and the experience and data from countries who have achieved large scale vaccination already, we know for sure that vaccination against Covid-19 has a profoundly positive impact on preventing serious disease, hospitalisation and death.
The number of vaccination sites across both the public and private sector is steadily increasing. We started with 113 sites across the country, and this has now increased to over 3 000.
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In the weeks and months ahead, the private sector will be working hard alongside government to ensure the rollout is as equitable as possible, and that everyone, whether insured or uninsured, has access to a vaccination. Vaccinating at SASSA pay-out sites is one way that will help to achieve this, but there are other initiatives in the offing too, which includes pharmacies, GPs, workplace and occupational health sites, mass sites and mobile clinics. If people can’t come to us, we will go to them, to ensure no one is left behind.
The best private sector resources in the country are focused on ensuring the success of the programme, despite numerous, complex challenges: global vaccine constraints on supply, sourcing vaccinators and ancillary staffers for sites, the establishment of more public and private sites to ensure sufficient capacity, driving demand to meet capacity, and then driving further demand to meet that capacity. We need to acknowledge and ensure the need to build local capabilities and capacity across the entire vaccine value chain. Indeed, no challenge is insurmountable if we work together.
This was evidenced recently, when social partners rallied together when faced with the violent unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Everyone, including the private sector, was galvanised into action, precious vaccines were rerouted away from affected areas to where they could be used. Despite the crisis, vaccinations across the country - including in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng - were back up to record numbers within days.
By working together to address these challenges, we are creating a model of how the private and public sectors might work together in the future to tackle South Africa’s other challenges.
Address concerns
But it’s going to take all of us – every adult in this country – to do something to drive the vaccination programme. I cannot emphasise strongly enough the importance of driving vaccine registration - we are currently sitting at 8,78 million registrations - and finding practical and effective ways to ensure those who are registered, get vaccinated. For businesses who don’t have workplace vaccination sites, that means continuing to encourage vaccination and emphasise its benefits, and to address all vaccine concerns with facts, compassion and understanding. But also, importantly, it means removing barriers to vaccination by giving people time off to go and get their jabs, and possibly even providing transport to the closest site.
For civil society that might mean holding registration drives at community centres such as places of worship, schools and recreational centres and again, helping those without transport to get to their vaccination sites.
Individuals can help those who are unable to register to do so, and help them to get to their appointments. It is imperative that those over the age of 60 years be vaccinated as a matter of urgency. This is the group most vulnerable to hospitalisation and death from Covid-19. Our ask of the younger generation is to encourage their elders to get the jab, and where necessary, to take them along when they go for their own vaccinations.
We are living in unprecedented times, which requires unprecedented community spirit, social cohesion and action from each of us to drive the success of the vaccination programme. But the rewards are monumental.
When enough of us are vaccinated, we will be able to return to doing the things we love: visiting our places of worship, travelling, attending sporting and cultural events, hugging our loved ones, and socialising as we once did.
Most of all, we can emerge from the mantle of fear so many of us have lived under, constantly worried about catching Covid-19, passing it on to our loved ones, or losing people we love to it, knowing that because we are vaccinated, we are protected from the worst ravages of the disease.
And then, at last, we will be able to move forward from the stasis of lockdown, with a continued spirit of collaboration, to rebuild those things that the pandemic has taken from us, and into a brighter future.
- Stavros Nicoloau is from the B4SA Chair Health Workgroup.
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