01 Sep 2021

COVID-19 vaccines allocated to Selebi Phikwe cluster have been depleted owing to a high turn up at vaccination centres. 

Acting coordinator for Greater Selebi Phikwe, Dr Kesegofetse Chabaesele said in an interview that Selebi Phikwe received a total of 5 950 doses of Johnson & Johnson which were all used up last week. Additionally, the cluster received a total 3 366 doses of Pfizer, which Dr Chabaesele expected to also finish midweek. 

She attributed this to a positive response to vaccination by the public and frontline workers such as teachers, members of the BDF, police and essential services workers. 

Dr Chabaesele added that a total of 1 498 teachers in Selebi-Phikwe had been vaccinated so far. She said most frontline workers had been fully vaccinated. Altogether 6 736 people had been fully vaccinated whilst 7 762 had already received the first dose of vaccine in the town alone. 

Dr Chabaesele said in total 21 510 people were fully vaccinated in Greater Selebi Phikwe while 24 812 had received the first dose only. Furthermore, positive cases in the region were declining compared to the past month, she said. 

She urged Selebi Phikwe community to continue adhering to COVID-19 protocols. She advised that COVID-19 required a high level of hygiene, as such the community needed to adopt new methods of cleanliness to mitigate against transmission of the virus amongst family members. 

She also explained that Selebi Phikwe continued to register more cases than Mmadinare and Bobonong, noting that the town had so far registered 6 135 positive cases were 3 306 and 4 056 to the two villages in that order. 

Meanwhile, the chief education officer Mr Tshwarelo Hosia commended government for extending vaccination to teachers and non-teaching staff, adding that majority of teachers in Selebi Phikwe had vaccinated. He said the few who had not vaccinated were unable to do so due to medical reasons. 

He however said those who were fit to vaccinate were encouraged to vaccinate at community vaccination sites because the vaccine that was allocated to schools was used up. 

Mr Hosia said completing classes had successfully resumed in all Selebi Phikwe schools. and had not received any negative report pertaining to re-opening of schools in town. He encouraged teachers and learners to continue working hard to maintain good academic results in Selebi Phikwe.ends