GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - A further 360 Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses that arrived in George at the weekend were to be administered to healthcare workers this week.

Garden Route district spokesperson for the Western Cape Health Department Nadia Ferreira confirmed that the roll-out of the Sisonke vaccination programme at George Hospital last week went smoothly. 

All 320 available vaccines were administered. Recipients included health workers from the private sector. "We had no major hiccups thus far," said Ferreira.

Complaint from healthcare workers
Ferreira also responded to a complaint reported to George Herald regarding health personnel at George Hospital who are concerned that they do not "qualify" for vaccination. A source from Thembalethu had told the newspaper that more than 20 healthcare workers drove through to Tygerberg after being told they could get vaccinated at Tygerberg Hospital, but once there, some were informed that they do not "qualify" and others were told that only a certain number of people can be vaccinated in a day. 

These staff members said they should have been informed beforehand of the situation because, in the latter case, they could have made arrangements to sleep over, and in the former they would not have gone to Tygerberg at all.

Ferreira said all health workers from both the public and private sector who have registered to be part of the Sisonke vaccination programme are eligible to be vaccinated. 

"A sequencing format is used for equitable access so that those who are more exposed, more vulnerable due to age and comorbidities and their area of work, will have first access. We estimate that approximately 40% of healthcare workers in the province will be vaccinated as part of this programme with the available vaccines."

She said once staff have registered on the EVDS (electronic vaccination data system) and subsequent approval SMS and voucher have been issued, they still need to make arrangements with their supervisor for an appointment at the vaccination site. "We are not sure where these staff members got the message to go to a different facility."

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