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By Mayibongwe Maqhina 
1 hour ago
Cape Town: The Western Cape is moving ahead with plans to procure its own supplies of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Provincial health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo briefed Parliament’s health portfolio committee with its Eastern Cape counterpart on Wednesday.
“The prime minister, in his capacity as the provincial commander of the Covid-19 council, has engaged with providers and also with various other stakeholders regarding the issue of vaccines.
“We know for sure that there will be a time when there might be an additional need to expand beyond some of the priorities that the nation has set and therefore it is crucial that we do so,” Mbombo told MPs.
He said they had learned by sourcing TB drugs, HIV / AIDS ARVs and other drugs where there had always been a centralization of the procurement process.
“If something happens regarding the challenges, we always make a point that we have a plan B and that is crucial,” said Mbombo.
The province’s move comes despite Health Minister Zweli Mkhize saying last week that the National Department of Health would be the sole buyer of Covid-19 vaccines for the country.
Also reporting to the portfolio committee, the head of the provincial health department, Keith Cloete, said the province was beginning to stabilize.
Cloete said that the active number of Covid-19 cases in the Cape Town subway was reaching a plateau.
The Garden Route has risen from the top like the Nelson Mandela Subway, where the second wave first broke.
The Cape Winelands have started to stabilize as has the Overberg. The West Coast was the only district that was only sloping and was expected to start to decline this week or next, Cloete said.
He told MPs that the province has 7,693 public sector acute operations beds that include general and critical care beds for Covid-19 patients.
There were 3,323 Covid patients in health centers, 1,889 in public hospitals, and 1,434 in private hospitals.
Cloete noted that they have experienced a significant reduction in alcohol-related trauma.
“Maintaining a strong focus on behavior change is essential to ensure containment throughout the six months as we prepare to provide access to vaccines.”
Cloete told MPs that the province has recorded 92 health worker deaths to date and that there were 80 88 infections accumulated.
He also said there were 1,029 active cases of which 98 were doctors, 432 nurses, 23 radiologists, 7 pharmacists and 459 from other categories.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape said it was trending down in terms of Covid-19 infections with Joe Gqabi having his cases on the rise.
The acting head of the provincial department, Sibongile Zungu, said Joe Gqabi’s district was the last to peak in the first wave and again entered the second wave last.
Zungu said they were concerned about the Nelson Mandela subway and the Sarah Baartman district, which were the top contributors, accounting for 70-80% of new cases since December.
“The rest of the districts under pressure are Buffalo City Metro, Joe Gqabi and Chris Hani District to some extent.”
Zungu also said they were concerned about the availability of beds in the Alfred Nzo district, the Buffalo City subway and the OR Tambo district.
“Until yesterday (Wednesday), these three were showing pressure in the general beds,” Zungu said.
“In the Alfred Nzo, Joe Gqabi and Nelson Mandela Bay subway, there is some pressure that we are seeing there in terms of critical care beds,” he said.
Zungu told deputies that the districts of Alfred Nzo, Amathoe, Joe Gqabi and Sarah Baartman did not have designated ICU facilities.
“However, the province has provided critical beds in certain designated district hospitals, equipped them with oxygen and high-flow equipment and improved staffing levels so that citizens of the province can travel to critical care beds in two hours with an ambulance”.
Zungu said there were 1,732 admissions to his health facilities as of January 11.
A total of 1524 were in general wards, 144 in ICU beds and 64 in high care.
He said 855 of the patients were receiving oxygen, whether they were in general or intensive care wards, while 76 were receiving ventilation.
Political Bureau
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