COVID-19: What provinces have planned for older persons
Phase II of South Africa’s vaccination rollout has started. Elri Voigt unpacks how provinces will go about vaccinating those aged 60 and older.
Behind the scenes: How the first 500 000 vaccine doses administered in SA were secured
When South Africa’s rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine was put on hold in early February, a scramble ensued to ensure healthcare workers could be protected. Chris Bateman spoke to Professor Glenda Gray about the behind-the-scenes negotiations that helped secure 500 000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – almost all of which have now been used in the Sisonke study.
How to vaccinate millions as quickly as possible
Starting now, hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 vaccines will be arriving in South Africa weekly. Rather than spending energy and resources policing who gets them, we should be focusing on getting the vaccines as fast as possible into willing arms. Don’t try to micro-manage the rollout, writes Nathan Geffen and Marcus Low.
UPDATE: How provinces are gearing up for the launch of mass vaccination
With phase two of the country’s vaccination rollout set to start on Monday, 17 May, provinces are gearing up for the largest adult vaccination push the country has ever seen. Elri Voigt provides an update on preparations for the next phase in the nine provinces and progress made in vaccinating healthcare workers through the Sisonke implementation study.
New HIV/TB plan delayed by a year because of COVID-19
South Africa will delay introducing a new HIV and TB plan until 2024, Deputy President David Mabuza revealed on Wednesday. The plan is delayed to allow the country’s HIV and TB responses to recover from COVID-19-related disruptions. Laura Lopez Gonzalez reports for Spotlight.
Opinion: Engage communities and leverage COVID-19 innovations to address SA’s TB crisis
It is time to engage communities through community healthcare workers and to leverage COVID-19 innovations to advance the urgent need for high-quality, person-centred tuberculosis (TB) care for all, argue authors from leading TB advocacy organisation TB Proof.
Analysis: Does government have a moral obligation to roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine?
South Africa is likely headed for a third wave of COVID-19 infections, experts warn. With no windfall of vaccines in sight, many people at high risk of COVID-19 will remain unvaccinated. Now some doctors and medical ethicists are asking: Is a safe vaccine that could possibly protect them better than nothing?
COVID-19: What it is like being a student volunteer
As the first two waves of COVID-19 swept through South Africa hospitals and healthcare workers were under huge pressure. Siyabonga Kamnqa spoke to some medical students about their involvement in a Western Cape volunteer programme to help out at health facilities.
COVID-19: Childhood cancer care in SA’s large centres ‘relatively unaffected’
More than three quarters of 200 hospitals surveyed from across the globe report that their paediatric cancer care services had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in the Lancet medical journal. Yet, some large centres in South Africa appear to have been relatively unaffected. Kathryn Cleary reports.