Dear B4SA and healthcare colleagues,
You will undoubtedly have followed developments over the past few days related to the South African COVID-19 vaccine acquisition and rollout programme. Colleagues will be aware that we established the B4SA vaccine platform to provide up-to-date information on bilateral and multilateral engagements with government, hopefully enabling businesses to respond to the latest news.
The coronavirus is not going to simply disappear. We are at a critical juncture, one that may mean the difference between being badly impacted by a third wave or not. We need to be proactive – and get vaccinated. The government’s Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) has been live since mid-April, and yet only 11% of those over 60 have registered. We need to make a concerted effort to ensure that more people register.
The rollout of Phase 2 on 17 May is greatly anticipated, but not without some trepidation, given the challenges we have faced, including a delay due to the possible contamination of some vaccines – fortunately not those in South Africa – and unresolved policy issues.
Read more: B4SA weekly update 07 May 21