Malema gives Ramaphosa vaccine rollout plan ultimatum

EFF leader Julius Malema has threatened a sit-in at the country’s vaccination centres should President Cyril Ramaphosa not provide a concrete vaccination plan.

Malema has given Ramaphosa until the end of April to provide a plan.

“If you, Cyril Ramaphosa, don’t provide a concrete plan how you will vaccinate the nation by the end of April 2021, we will be left with no option but to stage a sit-in at all vaccination centres,” the EFF leader said.

As of Thursday, 283,629 healthcare workers have been vaccinated under the Sisonke Protocol.

According to Ramaphosa, the country has signed an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to secure 11 million doses.

Of these doses, 2.8 million will be delivered in the second quarter and the rest spread throughout the year.

South Africa also secured 20 million doses from Pfizer, which will be delivered from the second quarter, as well as 12 million vaccine doses from the Covax facility.

This is in addition to its dose allocation from the African Union.

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All provinces have established vaccination sites and have put in place expansion plans, Ramaphosa said.

“Of the 49 sites that will be increased, 17 sites will be in the private hospital sector and the rest will be in the public health sector. We will be secured when it comes to vaccines.”

On Tuesday, the DA said it would approach the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to launch an investigation into the government’s “tardy and criminally slow” vaccine rollout.

“South Africa began its vaccine rollout exactly seven weeks with the Johnson & Johnson Sisonke trial which is meant to overlap with phase 1 of the rollout to cover the target of 1.2 million healthcare workers.  To date [Tuesday], just over 269,000 healthcare workers have been vaccinated – a fraction of the target.

“The trial alone is meant to cover 500,000 healthcare workers but has been impossibly slow,” said DA shadow minister of health Siviwe Gwarube.

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“The Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, continuously blames external and global factors for the throttled supply of the vaccine. However, South Africa’s acquisition was slow as we receive drips and drabs of supply; thus the rollout is pitiful.

“We cannot continue hoping that the timeline which keeps on being adjusted for the impossible delays will be met, because nothing has gone according to the government’s plan to date. The process has been marred by breathtaking tardiness.”

As a result, the DA will ask the SAHRC to launch an investigation into the entire vaccination process to date.

Vhahangwele Nemakonde