KwaZulu Natal will be opening more vaccination sites in the province ahead of the vaccine rollout in schools. 

KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala said the province will be opening 21 new vaccination sites to accommodate the vaccination of teachers and school staff. 

“We already have a database for these educators, which should make their vaccination easier. These educators will be guided by management in their respective districts and circuits, regarding which sites to go to, in order to get vaccinated.

“Some districts will open new sites, where sites don’t already exist; while others will have to designate their existing sites accordingly, to accommodate the teachers. We’re also exploring the possibility of opening these vaccination sites on weekends, because educators work Monday to Friday,” Zikalala said. 

The Premier also confirmed that the province will be receiving a total of 110 400 Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

These vaccines will be used to vaccinate all teaching and supporting staff in the province. 

Zikalala is impressed with the progress that the province has made with the rollout so far. 

“From our 124 vaccination sites so far created in the public sector and 18 in the private sector, we have managed to vaccinate a total of 360 451 people in the province. This is made up of 237 195 senior citizens aged 60 and above, and 123 256 health workers,” Zikalala said.

While the threat of the third wave looms for other provinces, the Premier is confident that the KwaZulu Natal is not facing a third wave at the moment. 

“In terms of our emergency early warning systems, a 10% increase in cases over a seven day moving average will trigger an alert; while a 20% increase in cases over a seven day moving average will trigger resurgence, which may indicate that we are entering a third wave of COVID–19 infections,” 

“Our focus is on identifying clusters and conducting targeted testing in the affected areas; identifying and strengthening contact tracing; intensifying our risk communication drive, with an emphasis on non-pharmaceutical interventions.” he said.