24 Jan 2022

Selebi Phikwe District Management Team (DHMT) is in talks with schools in the region as it prepares for vaccination of children aged 12 to 17. 

Selebi Phikwe hospital public relations officer, Ms Onalethata Nkwe said in an interview that since the vaccination involved school going children, the DHMT made plans to reach out to schools to prepare for the exercise. 

She said they would need parental consent to vaccinate the children, and were encouraging parents to give it. Regarding out of school children of that age, Ms Nkwe said they would be vaccinated at the designated vaccination centres in Selebi Phikwe. 

“We hope to be done with this exercise within a short time to avoid disruption of teaching and learning,” she said. Ms Nkwe also explained that the region had started administering the booster shot to people who were fully vaccinated against COVID -19. 

The DHMT, she said, was taking into consideration the type of vaccine that people had taken as well as when they took the vaccine because each vaccine had a specified waiting period before someone could take the booster shot. 

She said the recommended waiting period to get booster vaccination for Astra Zenecca Covishield was three months after completing the vaccination series. 

Those who took the Sinovac vaccine, had to wait for five month while those who received Pfizer were to boost six months after completing their vaccination series. 

Johnson and Johnson booster vaccine, she said, was to be administered two months after completing vaccination series. 

Regarding COVID-19 statistics, Ms Nkwe said Selebi Phikwe region had 52 new positive cases, 18 247 recoveries and 117 deaths. She encouraged the communities of Selebi Phikwe, Mmadinare and Bobonong to continue adhering to COVID protocols to reduce the spread of the virus. 

She said the region was one of the most affected, and urged those who had not vaccinated or done so only in part to take the COVID-19 jab to avoid putting their lives at risk. ends