‘Racing against the clock’ – Kubayi worried about Covid jab rate

Kubayi made the remarks at the Thokoza Youth Centre in Ekurhuleni on Monday, where she joined Minister Lindiwe Sisilu to launch the Department of Social Development’s vaccine rollout programme. 

“When you are looking at KZN’s testing rate it’s very worrying. There is less testing happening there. We are worried that later in the coming days or week’s time, it will catch up with us. “

Last week, civil unrest erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and later spread to Gauteng in what was initially referred to as the ‘Free Jacob Zuma’ protests. 

It soon evolved into looting sprees where raiders targeted shopping malls and supermarkets destroying and burning what they could find.  

As a result of most of the vaccination sites suspended operations.

Kubayi said the violence will also have an impact on new Covid-19 infections.  

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“Remember that when people gather, that’s where you get worried that you are going to get more and more numbers coming through. We are looking at those numbers worried. We are worried that later in the coming days or week’s time, it will catch up with us.”

Before the civil unrest, the government was vaccinating 190 000 people a day, but that has since dropped to 171 000.

“We are already racing against the clock,” admitted Kubayi.

“I have targets that the president has already set for me. In terms of the work of the department. The first target is that we must vaccinate 300 000 people per day. We have not reached that. It definitely tells you that we are chasing.”