Sergeant Sinah Mphakane tells OFM News that she has personally lost close members of her family due to Covid-19. She says just a week ago she lost two of her family members in a space of a week. Mphakane says she thought it was important for her to get vaccinated as more police stations in the province continue to close their doors due to confirmed cases of Covid-19.

“Given the fact that we don’t know how long this pandemic is going to last and who’s going to be there until the end and how quickly does it spread, I think it’s important for us to get vaccinated,” she adds.

Mphakane was joined on Thursday by a large contingent of her colleagues at Bobbie's Park in Bloemfontein where the vaccination of 500 men and women in blue has commenced. She says Covid-19 has disturbed the working environment, even schools. 

Meanwhile, police spokesperson, Thandi Mbambo, said "this vaccination programme will assist us a lot because you will remember that we are a front line service and mostly affected by this pandemic. And, on a daily basis, we saw our SAPS having to close police stations, which affect service delivery. But now, with a lot of members (getting) vaccinated, it will minimise the risk of them contracting the virus (and) we also encourage them that, as much as they are going to be vaccinated today, they will still need to adhere to the protocols," she adds.

OFM News