HEALTHCARE WORKERS VACCINATION STARTS AT SNAIL’S PACE

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.

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