TAC National Office Bearers to lead delegation to be vaccinated against COVID-19
14 May 2021, Johannesburg – On Monday this week the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) offered all health and health associated civil society organisations a chance to be part of the Sisonke study. One of the reasons for this involved a fear of wastage, as there was a legitimate fear that unused doses would be wasted. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) accepted this invitation after much deliberation on the basis of a few important points.
“As an organisation, we accepted this with a proviso that only ‘patient-facing’ comrades working at primary healthcare level would be eligible for the vaccination. We have been part of many discussions and seen a lot of allegations of queue jumping in the media as well as on social media. As an organisation that prides itself on ethical conduct, fighting against this has been foremost on our mind. Getting members and staff that are patient-facing vaccinated is of utmost importance, as they monitor over 605 healthcare facilities across 8 provinces, and would help highlight issues through community-led monitoring. Part of this involves regular monitoring of availability of medicines, including COVID-19 vaccines,” said Sibongile Tshabalala, the TAC National Chairperson.
“We are also actively taking part in this in order to help overcome vaccine hesitancy. As an organisation of people living with HIV we need to lead by example by openly getting vaccinated in order to address the hesitancy and combat deliberate misinformation and fear mongering around COVID-19 vaccines. We believe in the power of vaccines and we look forward to Phase 2 of the vaccination programme being opened up on Monday,” continued Sibongile Tshabalala.
“We are encouraged by the recent uptake of vaccinations, with the SAMRC estimating that 455,169 health workers have been vaccinated out of a possible 500,000 on the study. We encourage everyone who will be eligible to seriously consider vaccinating.”
“As an organisation of people living with HIV (PLHIV) and other comorbidities, it is important to highlight the importance of preventing any additional infections and illnesses considering that our immune systems are already compromised.”
Results from the Ensemble Trial, conducted across four continents, showed that the JnJ vaccine protected all participants (100 percent) against death. 82% of participants were protected against extreme COVID-19, while 64% were protected against moderate to severe COVID-19. 6, 576 participants were from South Africa.
Sibongile Tshabalala, our National Chairperson and board member and TAC co-founder Mark Heywood will lead a delegation of leaders and programmatic staff who will be vaccinated in Gauteng tomorrow.
Date: Friday 14 May 2021
Time: 08h00
Where: Helen Joseph Hospital, Johannesburg.
In doing so we acknowledge the role played in the fight against HIV by comrades such as Sister Sue Roberts in the 1990s, a nurse at Helen Joseph for many, many years, and getting vaccinated there has a special resonance. We also recall comrades such as Charlene Wilson who passed away due to AIDS before treatment was available at this hospital.
TAC General Secretary Anele Yawa will be joined by our National Organiser, Moses Makhomisani and other leaders getting vaccinated in the Eastern Cape.
Date: Friday 14 May 2021
Time: 08h00
Where: Livingstone Hospital, Nelson Mandela Bay
For media interviews, please contact:
Ngqabutho Mpofu | ngqabutho.mpofu@tac.org.za | +27 72 225 9675
