Minister Dlodlo visits Western Cape’s Khayelitsha and Groote Schuur vaccination sites

State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo says she is satisfied with the way Covid-19 vaccines are being rolled out following her inspection of two vaccination sites in the Western Cape to assess their readiness ahead of the Phase 2 rollout.

On Monday, Dlodlo visited Khayelitsha and Groote Schuur hospitala to check if the vaccine centres are prepared for the next phase of the vaccination programme.

She was deployed as a member of the interministerial committee on vaccines to inspect and monitor the mass inoculation programme.

Dlodlo said that with the arrival of the first batch of Pfizer vaccines and another larger batch arriving on 17 May, the interministerial committee was ensuring that safety measures are in place.

“I came with some of my staff and they’ve given me an indication but also a commitment that they are working around the clock to ensure that the measures that have been put in place, there’s safety all around for the vaccines that come through.”

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Dlodlo also said the Western Cape is geared to continue with the Covid-19 vaccination programme for both healthcare workers and the general population when the country starts its second phase of vaccinations later this month.

More than 75% of healthcare workers have already been vaccinated in the province as South Africa receives the first batch of 325,260 Pfizer vaccines.

The arrival of the Pfizer vaccines follows phase 1 of the vaccine rollout, which focused on the vaccination of healthcare workers as part of the Sisonke implementation study. The rollout resumed on 28 April.

Since then, 26,000 healthcare workers have been vaccinated, with the health department targeting 500,000 inoculations by the end of the study.

The minister was unable to visit Tygerberg hospital due to protest action there.