Govt vaccine rollout plan ‘a mere statement of intent’

On Sunday evening, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize and a panel of experts outlined the plan to roll out the vaccine to South Africans this year.

Mkhize said government hopes to obtain a Covid-19 vaccines by February.

But Van den Heever says it is an impossible timeline.

“I wouldn’t really call it a plan at this stage. There was more or less an expression of intent, the operational aspects of what was presented are far from clear and certain. So there is actually no clear indication of when we will have a vaccine and when we will start to rollout vaccinations.

“We don’t have any clear understanding of logistics of initial stages of the vaccination programme, starting with frontline healthcare workers. All we have is just a statement but very little of substance was presented.”

He says it is unlikely that government had talks with any pharmaceutical companies, as stated by Mkhize.

“It is clear that government didn’t really prioritize the vaccine strategy and really only made a commitment through the COVAX strategy, which is a World Health Organization-organized approach, meaning South Africa will obtain the vaccine for only 10% of the population.

“The delivery date of those vaccines is far from clear and which vaccine will be involved is far from clear, so that is most certainly not something we can bank on at this stage.”

Van den Heever says a workable solution would be to procure a vaccine through the private sector.

“It would be a sensible strategy within the same prioritisation strategy proposed by the minister. The private sectors are used to making this kind of commitments and they could fund an entire programme for the government if they wish.

“And it is really a small amount of money relative to the surplus they have made. The medical schemes have ample funding available, they are looking pretty good financially and the government is looking pretty bad.”

ALSO READ