Nehawu hoping for ‘prompt’ Covid-19 vaccine quality checks
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) has called on government not to waste any time in completing the quality checks on the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine.
The first batch of vaccines arrived in the country on Monday afternoon from India.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and officials braced the heavy rains to see the vaccine loaded from the Emirates Airlines Boeing 777.
The consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine will be held in cold storage at the Biovac warehouse in Johannesburg, from where it will be transported to the National Health Services national laboratory facility in Bloemfontein.
There it will undergo quality checks for between 10 and 14 days.
ALSO READ: MULTIMEDIA | SA’s first batch of Covid-19 vaccines lands at OR Tambo
Nehawu spokesperson Khaya Xaba says the union also welcomes the easing of the lockdown regulations, although notes that numbers of active cases are still a concern.
"The current daily average infections are around 5500. When the country went on lockdown on the 26th March 2020 the daily average was around 1000 infections and there was no aggressive new variant that was propelling the numbers.
"This proves beyond reasonable doubt that we are not yet out of the woods," Xaba says.
Xaba has vowed to work with government on the rollout of the vaccines.
"We hope the quality assurance checks will move with speed so that the vaccination can begin in earnest.
"We will continue to work with government and the Department of Health in the roll-out of the vaccination programme including ensuring that the vaccines reaches where they are intended."
