Workers union Nehawu in Mpumalanga says they will keep a close eye on the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out process in the province.
It says it wants to avoid wastage and corruption. The provincial Health Department is expected to receive over 30 000 doses of the vaccine by next week.
Healthcare workers will be inoculated at 26 hospitals across the province.
While they’re happy to be inoculated, there are some concerns.
National Healthcare Professionals Association Dr Prudence Buthelezi-Mlambo says: “We are happy that the vaccines are finally here which we believe will reduce the number of deaths among healthcare professionals. We are still waiting for the government in Mpumalanga on how they will distribute among us healthcare professionals.”
Nehawu says they are hopeful but warned government to avoid wastage.
Nehawu’s Welcome Mnisi says: “We have been reassured that before the end of next week this vaccine will arrive here. We will walk side by side with them to monitor that there’s no wastage in the form of corruption or theft and spillage cause that can also disadvantage our people.”
SA received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines on Monday:
The province has recorded over 65 000 COVID-19 cases and 997 deaths. Active cases are currently standing at over 3 400.
The department is confident that it’s ready to start the vaccination drive.
“We have developed our own programme as a province and we are going to follow the three phases approved for the immunisation of all healthcare workers. We have already identified our healthcare workers in the private and public facilities and therefore we are going to distribute about 30 500 vaccines in terms of the people who are trained to give the vaccination”, says Mpumalanga Health MEC Sasekani Manzini.
The department has raised concerns about the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Mbombela, eMalahleni, Nkomazi and Bushbuckridge municipalities.
