The government must allow private doctors to administer Covid-19 vaccine

The proposal by the SA Medical Association (Sama) that the national health department allow general practitioners (GPs) and other medical doctors to register on the master facility list is welcome, as this would allow them to administer the Covid-19 vaccine to their patients.

At present, only pharmacists are registered to do that, and adding GPs will make more options available for people to get their jab.

Covid-19 vaccine fatigue

While the Covid-19 curbs may have been eased and the infection rates are showing a decline, the fight against the pandemic is far from over.

That’s why we must not drop our guard because health experts have warned there’s a likelihood of a fifth wave.

True, many people have become Covid-19-fatigued and cannot wait to return to “normal”.

For example, the wearing of masks in open spaces was stopped by many people before the government directed otherwise.

Covid-19 regulations

So, it is clear that most of the Covid-19 regulations are being ignored; and this may pose a serious risk of all the gains against Covid-19 being lost.

ALSO READ: Expert calls for govt’s urgent intervention to stop vaccine waste

But, unless most of the population gets vaccinated, we are unlikely to return to our pre-Covid-19 lives any time soon.

It was, therefore, disheartening to learn that at least R30 million worth of Pfizer vaccine doses would be destroyed at the end of this week.

Another 400,000 doses were lost through wastage and unused open vials. The main reason for this sad state of affairs is that people are still vaccine-hesitant.

Vaccine corruption and mismanagement

South Africa’s poor management of the pandemic is making matters worse.

The delivery of vaccination services is apparently in disarray, with large numbers of vaccination stations closed. In most cases, supplies have been insufficient, or their arrival times unpredictable.

As experts pointed out in The Citizen, all those doses lost not only represent a significant financial loss, but also the potential loss of lives.

Sama is correct. The government must act swiftly and allowing private doctors to administer vaccines would perhaps prevent the wastage.