More than 167,000 people were vaccinated in the first week of Phase Two of South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccine roll-out. They received just the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
The roll-out was given a boost over the weekend, with the finding that the Pfizer vaccine can be stored in a refrigerator for a month. Previously, it was estimated that the vaccine would last in a standard fridge for only five days, but new data prove otherwise. The change was approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority after its counterparts in Europe and the US made the same call. Read more about what this means for the roll-out here.
Arrest made following dodgy R500 000 Health Department tender probe
Kwenzani Ndabeni was taken into custody on Wednesday in connection with alleged tender fraud relating to Northern Cape hospital renovations,
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, (DCIP) – better known as the Hawks – have made an arrest relating to an investigation into claims that the Northern Cape Department of Health has been defrauded to the tune of nearly R500 000.
A dodgy tender awarded to a company that promised to supply vinyl sheeting to the Kuruman Hospital was probed after irregularities within the contract were discovered last year, with several employees from the department arrested in November 2021.