25 Mar 2021

Preparations for the COVID-19 vaccination programme are ongoing and running smoothly, District Health Management Team regional coordinator, Ms Josephine Mosimanewakgosi said in an interview on Wednesday 

She said planning was on and that they awaited official communication and guidelines with respect to dates to kick-start the vaccination programme. 

“We are busy preparing for the roll out of the vaccines. But before we can actually do so, we have to ensure simulation on how the roll out would be conducted is complete,” she added.

She said to ensure that the programme became a success, 112 897 people from an estimated population of 173 135 were targeted. “So far we have trained vaccinators in the sub-districts at Kanye, Jwaneng and about to complete at Mabutsane sub,” she said.

Ms Mosimanewakgosi said teams were on the ground to address frontliners who were the first to roll out the vaccination, adding that plans were underway to conduct community consultation. “Our aim is to implement an education campaign designed specifically for the community to get vaccinated,” she said.

She further noted that it was crucial to ensure that community consultations were done before the roll-out was made so that all were prepared and bought-in on the need for vaccinations. 

Ms Mosimanewakgosi also said plans were underway to consult the village leadership and also reach out to communities through the use of the public address system. 

She said vaccinations would start with those aged 55 and above and thereafter rolled out to the rest of the public.

“Government is concerned about the health of the people, and its therefore committed to ensuring that the public is safe and protected from the virus,” she said.

Aware that there were some people who feared getting vaccinated, she made an assurance that the vaccine was safe and has been used in other countries.

“We are alert of the existence of people who fear getting vaccines because of unfounded claims from social media and other sources. We recognise that as one of our challenges and we are working at addressing that so that the vaccination programme becomes successful,” she said. 

Ms Mosimanewakgosi decried that COVID-19 cases in the Southern District were on the rise with Kanye being on top. She noted that the village  cumulatively reporting 2 005 positive cases followed by Moshupa with 1 371 and  Jwaneng 1 323 as well as Mabutsane with 292.

She said challenges were experienced as schools registered a rise in cases amongst the learners who were risking infecting those at homes.

Ms Mosimanewakgosi said in an effort to contain the virus, they have dispatched contact tracing teams to identify contacts and conduct swabs in the homes. She said all was going according to plan except that the staff was overwhelmed by the number of cases.

Ms Mosimanewakgosi noted that due to more people testing positive for COVID-19, they were experiencing challenges of space in the isolation centres. 

She said screening was done before patients were admitted, and that those with no critical conditions could isolate at their homes.

She said to contain the virus there was need for all to comply with health protocols. ends