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BL Premium reports that according to a senior health department official, work is still under way to determine how to sequence people in the second phase of the government’s coronavirus vaccination strategy.
The government’s vaccination strategy has three phases, starting with health workers, before broadening out in phase 2 to essential workers, people over the age of 60, adults with co-morbidities, and people living in congregate settings such as care homes. On Friday, Business for SA (B4SA) urged the government to sequence phase 2 by age, saying the limited number of vaccines available between March and June should be prioritised for the most vulnerable. The health department’s Anban Pillay said age was “certainly the highest risk factor” for death from Covid-19, and certain underlying conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, were also significant risk factors for more severe illness, but there were “a number of alternative views” on the sequencing of the four groups. “The health minister will need to take account of the various views and options before finalising our approach to the sequencing,” he indicated. Pillay said the government hoped to start phase 2 in early May. “This is obviously dependent on the quantity of vaccines we receive to complete health-care workers, then we can start with the phase 2 groups.” SA faces a vaccine supply crunch in the second quarter of the year.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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