This week deputy minister in the presidency Thembi Siweya claimed in an interview that SA’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout was happening all over the country. She had been to monitor inoculation sites in Limpopo. When it was pointed out to her that in fact the only rollout happening was the J&J clinical trial study that was limited to healthcare workers, she was belligerent.
“You and I as South Africans don’t need to ask questions about a study, what matters is that we are rolling out the vaccine to our people,” she said. The deputy minister either had no clue what she was talking about or she was still labouring under the now exposed, disingenuous narrative the government had initially told us about that programme.
Our reality is an extremely scary one. Almost four months into the year, there is no vaccine rollout to ordinary South Africans. The Covid-19 infections have begun to climb yet again as some experts warn that we should expect a third spike in infections after Easter. Two days ago infections had risen by just over 1,000, double the number in the preceding period.
Simply put, as things stand a deadly third wave is approaching us faster than a vaccine. While countries across the world are pressing ahead with huge inoculation programmes, our only layer of protection thus far is our own behaviour.
For this we must lay the blame squarely on government’s ineptitude. President Cyril Ramaphosa remains adamant that at least 40m people will be vaccinated by year-end to achieve herd immunity. Two things are undermining the president’s message, however. One, he has given no time frames for when this will start outside the ongoing clinical trial.
Two, there is no vaccine now in SA beyond the J&J study. Medical Research Council president Prof Glenda Gray told parliament that we ought not to worry as she estimated that in two months, vaccines were expected to flow from ramped up global manufacturing.
Only this will do little to allay fears. It also does not mitigate the fact that in its lacklustre approach to procuring various vaccines, the government effectively defaulted on its constitutional responsibility.
Even in that state of fear and anger we must recognise that our behaviour as individuals and groups of people will ultimately determine how fast a third wave comes and how devastating it may be.
While a vaccine is an important and necessary variable of the fight against this pandemic, it is ultimately our decisions to care and protect ourselves and livelihood that will determine our fate.
We owe it to ourselves to take the lessons we learnt in the past year and avoid further devastation while equally calling on the government to step up to its responsibility to provide vaccines.
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