South Africa’s National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) on Monday said the vaccine roll-out plan the state unveiled last night lacked details and was unclear on delivery timelines.
“The plan did not have a clear logistical roll-out plan for vaccination, for example in terms of training of the clinicians to vaccinate, geographic layout of the vaccination especially for the vulnerable cohorts,” Nehawu General Secretary Zola Saphetha said.
This comes after Health Minister Zweli Mkhize unveiled South Africa’s vaccine rollout strategy on Sunday night. Mkhize said the government hoped to roll out the vaccine next month.
“Hopefully as early as February 2021. This will very much depend on the success of current bilateral negotiations we are in the midst of with various companies,” he said.
The minister said the plan was to vaccinate about 60 percent of the population by the end of this year.
“Unfortunately they did not meet our expectations because we had thought that by now we might have concluded negotiations and engagements with manufacturers and those that are responsible for the vaccine,” said Saphetha.
“Furthermore, we demand that government engages both Russia and China on emergency procurement of their vaccines for healthcare workers whilst waiting for the Covax delivery,” said the union.
