This is according to the medical specialist, Professor John Tumbu, during the vaccine rollout plans. During the media briefing on Monday, Tumbu explained that these healthcare workers will be vaccinated during phase 1 of the vaccine rollout plan with the first shipment of India-made COVID-19 vaccines set to arrive in the country on Monday. At least 23 000 healthcare practitioners from the public sector and 11 000 from the private sector, including specialists, doctors, and nurses will be targeted for the first phase of the vaccination.  

“We are in the process of adding healthcare providers and in this new group is the traditional healthcare practitioners. We are in the process of collecting data on the traditional practitioners that will be added to the 34 000 healthcare workers we have and that will be the number we are targeting in terms of dealing with phase 1,” Tumbu added.  

The vaccination process will follow three phases – phase 1 being limited doses, in phase 2 a large number of doses will be available while Phase 3 will be continued vaccination or a shift to a routine strategy.

Essential workers, which include members of the South African Police Services (SAPS), Home Affairs officials, members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), Department of Labour, Education, Correctional Services, and social workers will also be vaccinated.

OFM News