Limpopo – Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says even though the Covid-19 vaccine will aid in fighting the virus, no one will be forced to take the jab.
On Thursday, Mkhize briefed the Parliament’s health committee about the underway Covid-19 vaccine plan.
“The vaccine will be voluntary. We will try and urge as many people to take the vaccine. It is not mandatory, but we need for the community to understand that it is for their benefit and that is why they need to participate at that level. So when there are issues which relate to moral, ethical or religious and those kinds of issues, we can deal with those at the time when they arise,” Mkhize said.
Mkhize says merely the government will purchase the vaccine.
“The National Department of Health (NDOH) will contract with suppliers to purchase stock and allocate to provincial health departments and the private health sector. Given the limited availability of vaccines, it will be necessary to procure available stock from different manufacturers, hence there may be multiple vaccines in the programme that are not interchangeable in a two dose vaccine schedule,” he said.
Mkhize announced that South Africa will receive one million Covid-19 vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India in January (this month) and another five-hundred thousands.
Of the vaccine to be received, the first doses thereof will be received by the. 1,25 million frontline health workers, from both the public and private health sectors.
Mkhize said all those to be vaccinated will be registered and be given a card, and the allocation thereof will be guided by the ministerial advisory committee (MAC) on vaccines.
“The vaccination system should be based on pre-vaccination registration and appointment system for vaccination. All vaccinated persons should be on a national register and will be provided a vaccination card. Za national rollout, including both the public and private sectors,” Health Minister said.
Vaccination on pregnant women and children
On the question of having pregnant women vaccinated, Mkhize said they are not aware if it is safe to vaccinate pregnant women, as such he doesn’t recommend having pregnant women and children taking the jab, but will give an update when new evidence becomes available.
“Vaccination is currently not recommended for pregnant women and children. Guidance will be updated as new evidence becomes available,” he said.
Mkhize said this also applies to those who tested positive for Covid-19.
“This includes person who tested positive during their illness, as well as patients with positive antibody tests,” Mkhize said.
He added that, “best practice currently remains unclear. Guidance is awaited from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the vaccine MAC.”
STUF News
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