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Elderly, severely ill stand to benefit from #Covid19 booster shots

───   OLEBOGENG MOTSE 13:28 Tue, 05 Oct 2021

Elderly, severely ill stand to benefit from #Covid19 booster shots | News Article

Not everyone will need a third Covid-19 booster shot.

Free State infectious disease specialist and head of internal medicine at 3 Military Hospital in Bloemfontein, Cloete van Vuuren, thinks that citizens above the age of 80, as well as individuals with compromised immune systems like cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, or renal failure patients receiving hemodialysis treatment, will best benefit from a third Pfizer shot, for instance, or a second Johnson & Johnson jab in South Africa. He elaborates on the rationale behind this opinion.

“Those are all people we know don’t have a good response, but that little benefit they get from the Covid-19 vaccine is still significantly better than trying to tackle the infection with their bare hands. And then if we’ve covered those then maybe people older than 60-years-old as well as persons who got the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, could benefit from a booster shot. It seems there are still breakthrough infections with those. It remains effective against severe illness and death. However, there are breakthrough infections,” explains Van Vuuren.

Van Vuuren previously told OFM News he thinks that having minors vaccinated against Covid-19 is a good idea. Presently, the number of adult South Africans that are willing to inoculate themselves against the coronavirus is abysmal as compared to the capacity for vaccination. Which is why, he thinks, if adults don’t want to vaccinate, then it may be a good idea to let minors do so, since the resources are available. Even though a very small percentage of people below the age of 18-years-old have fallen gravely ill from the novel virus or have died, he believes the more places we can break the chain of Covid-19 transmission, the better.

“They can infect their parents and grandparents. If you can get them vaccinated, you can stop these outbreaks. Secondly, you’ll be able to run your matric exams without problems. We can have schools open. We can have sports events. With the excess capacity and more than enough vaccines, I think it’s a good idea to have the kids vaccinated if their parents don’t want to,” says Van Vuuren.

At present, the Free State still has the second-highest number of active Covid-19 cases in the country, with 5 787 cases, followed closely by the Northern Cape at 5 743 cases. KwaZulu-Natal is still reeling from the effects of the July riots, with over 16 100 recorded active cases. 

With respect to vaccination figures, over 960 000 people have been jabbed in the Free State, with over a million in the North West who have received their 1st/2nd primary doses. In September, when the Health Minister, Joe Phaahla, was in Bloemfontein, he called on the Free State Health Department to kick its vaccination campaign into a higher gear if it intended on meeting its target of inoculating 70% of the province’s population.

He alluded during his visit that the province is lagging a bit behind on its target of getting 1.9 million people vaccinated to reach herd immunity. Despite his own reservations, the Free State Health MEC, Montseng Tsiu, and Premier Sisi Ntombela assured those present that a plan has been put in place to ensure that the department rolls out vaccinations through proper implementation. During the Vooma vaccination campaign, Phaahla was joined by Tsiu in the Eastern Free State to encourage locals to get jabbed.


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