Times Of Swaziland: HEALTHCARE WORKERS VACCINATION STARTS AT SNAIL’S PACE

HEALTHCARE WORKERS VACCINATION STARTS AT SNAIL’S PACE
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Phumelele Mkhonta on 23/03/2021 16:37:00


MBABANE - The vaccination of healthcare workers has kicked off, although at a
slow pace.
Due to the slow deployment of gadgets which will be utilised during the COVID-19
vaccination rollout in the country, the vaccination process started at a
snail’s pace. Vaccinators are healthcare workers who will be vaccinating other
healthcare workers in the country and they (vaccinators) are stationed at the
public health units (PHU) in the kingdom and have been trained on COVID-19
vaccines. It was anticipated that the inoculation of vaccinators would begin
yesterday, after the COVID-19 vaccination official launch which was last Friday
at Mbabane Wellness Centre Clinic where the Acting Prime Minister, Themba
Masuku, was first in line to get the Oxford AstraZeneca jab.
Vaccination
The launch closely followed the COVID-19 vaccination test run where Minister of
Health Lizzie Nkosi was first to volunteer, among other health and the World
Health Organisation (WHO) officials, last Wednesday. During a site visit to the
PHU in Mbabane yesterday, where vaccinators are expected to vaccinate, there was
barely any activity with regard to the inoculation of the Oxford AstraZeneca. At
2:45pm, a few nurses had gathered at one of the vaccination rooms. However, this
reporter could not witness any of the healthcare workers vaccinating because of
confidentiality concerns which were raised. However, close sources revealed that
a few of the nurses were vaccinated.
Numbers
Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) President Bheki Mamba, who is also
part of the vaccinators, revealed that a few of them were vaccinated yesterday
afternoon, however, not divulging the exact numbers. When asked what caused the
slow rolling out of the much-awaited vaccination of healthcare workers, Mamba
said the late deployment of gadgets was the reason behind the slow-paced
enrolment. When asked about the role which the gadgets played in the rolling out
of COVID-19 vaccines, Mamba said they were pivotal because they stored all the
information about the individuals who were being vaccinated.
“The goal is to register and vaccinate people digitally and not manually like
in the old days. In this way, we will be able to have all the information about
the people in the gadgets and scan them with their cards. To do this, we need
the gadgets,” said Mamba. The types of gadgets could not be revealed because
of security reasons. Last week, during the test run at the PHU in Mbabane, it
was gathered that the COVID-19 vaccination cards which were distributed
contained personal details of the vaccinated person on the front. At the back,
it had columns for the name of the product (vaccine candidate), the batch number
which traces the dose to the manufacturer, the date the shot was given, the
return date and the site where the shot was given.