Author: svadmin

The COVID-19 third wave, which is driven by Gauteng, will spread to other provinces.

This is the warning that was issued by the acting Health Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, who was addressing the media on Friday.

“There should be no sense of complacency in other provinces which are all demonstrating upward trajectories and the wave in Gauteng will inevitably spill over into the rest of the country.”

Gauteng remains the epicentre of the pandemic and accounts for the majority of 9 521 new cases (59%) reported on Thursday, followed by 1 912 in the Western Cape (12%).

“I wish to open this press briefing first by acknowledging the grave situation we find ourselves in as a country, as we battle a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

Kubayi-Ngubane, Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu and a panel of experts were briefing the media on efforts in the fight against COVID-19, including an update on the national vaccination rollout programme.

Meanwhile, the acting Minister said the seven-day moving average graph shows that in Gauteng, the current wave has passed the first two that the country faced.

On Thursday, Gauteng Premier David Makhura said one in three people in the province who go for a COVID-19 test is “likely” to have the virus.

Interventions

In the meantime, the acting Minister said the National Department of Health has activated its surge response, which is executed together with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Surge Team deployed in the country.

The department has also employed 10 intervention areas that provinces must adopt to aid in the resurgence preparations and response.

These include governance and leadership, medical supplies, port and environmental health, epidemiology, facility readiness, case management, risk communication and community engagement, occupational health and safety, infection prevention and control, and human resources.

Also, the department will continue to monitor daily infections, hospital admissions, mortality rate, oxygen availability, personal protective equipment (PPE) availability and medicine supply.

“Where there are challenges, we alert the province to the impending risk and encourage them to address the matter,” she said.

“Yesterday, we had a meeting with Gauteng to confront the pressure they are facing with this wave and comprehensively deal with the drivers of this current wave, strategic case management and effective containment measures.”

She said she will be meeting with Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on COVID-19 on Saturday about issues that need critical and urgent intervention.

Deputy Director-General for Health, Dr Anban Pillay and a representative from Gauteng will join the acting Minister and they will present a detailed report on how the National and Provincial Departments of Health are implementing the surge response strategies.

“It is important to continue to emphasise not only the wearing of the mask all the time in public but wearing the mask correctly,” she stressed.

Healthcare workers

Meanwhile, Kubayi-Ngubane also took the time to pay tribute to the medical practitioners who continue to treat the COVID-19 ill patients.

“Allow me to express my deep appreciation to the frontline healthcare workers who continue to fight, wave after wave, for our people.”

She said it gives her comfort to know that health workers are protected, as the vast majority of them have been vaccinated and that the department has adequate PPE stock.

“I am certain that at this point, our healthcare workers are tapping into the most profound depths of strength, resilience and compassion – despite being exhausted and mentally drained by a 15-month long war,” she said.

“We celebrate our heroes and dip our banners to those that fell in the line of duty.”

Source: South African Government News Agency

Acting Health Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, has announced that those aged 50 and above will get the chance to receive their COVID-19 vaccines from 15 July 2021.

The Acting Minister announced this on Friday, following approval by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Vaccines.

Registration will open from 1 July. The Minister also encouraged those aged 60 and above to still sign up for their jabs.

“If you have a friend, family member, neighbour or loved one who is 60 years and above and is yet to vaccinate or register, please bring them along.”

Kubayi-Ngubane, Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu and a panel of experts were briefing the media on efforts in the fight against COVID-19, including an update on the national vaccination rollout programme.

Arrival of more vaccines

Meanwhile, she told journalists that government is expecting more vials of vaccines to arrive in South Africa.

Pfizer has since committed to delivering over 15.5 million doses in the third quarter, of which 2.1 million are expected to land in the country in July.

Meanwhile, 1.2 million additional Johnson & Johnson (J&J) single-dose shots, which need to be used by 11 August, arrived in South Africa on Thursday night.

“We are awaiting confirmation for delivery of 500 000 doses, these expire later than the previous doses mentioned and this makes up the two million to replace those that were lost to the contamination incident.”

She said the country was currently running three parallel processes under phase two of the vaccination rollout plan, including the inoculation of the general population, priority services sector staffers and workplace vaccination in key economic sectors.

As more vaccines trickle in, the acting Minister said this would enable government to “press ahead” with the vaccination of frontline workers sector by sector.

The State would then move onto workplace vaccinations – both formal and informal sectors.

“We will take guidance from the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 on which of these sectors to prioritise and move along until all work-based vaccinations are completed.”

Vaccines do work

The Acting Minister said preliminary study results show evidence of reduced moderate to severe illness and death in vaccinated healthcare workers.

The lead investigator in the Sisonke Study that saw almost close to 500 000 healthcare workers vaccinated, Professor Glenda Gray, announced last week that studies show a good immune response to the J&J single-dose COVID-19 vaccines.

“There is clear evidence that vaccines work. So far, there are no deaths recorded related to the vaccine itself,” said Kubayi-Ngubane.

While there were a few vaccine-induced thrombotic events, these were all detected and managed by expert clinicians.

“Overall, this study provides confidence that the vaccine confers high levels of protection to those who have been inoculated with it.”

She also touched on the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) plans to add a warning about rare heart inflammation in younger men to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“These events are rare. I have been reassured by our experts that the vast majority, if not all cases, that have been reported were mild with short hospital stays and that there have been no reports in South Africa,” she said, adding that the department will continue to monitor this closely.

“Pfizer is still considered safe and effective for all population groups above the age of 12 years.”

Meanwhile, she said she still believes that COVAX was still a useful facility for low- and middle-income countries to acquire the much-needed vaccines.

“For South Africa, we will continue to ensure that we get the best out of COVAX, however, we have adopted a diversified approach to procuring vaccines so that we do not put our eggs in one basket as we have been falsely accused.”

Source: South African Government News Agency