Wits University's Faculty of Health Sciences is worried the continued closure of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital may lead to the collapse of the provincial health system.
The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine(s) will be an intricate, difficult and vital operation. It has every chance of working, and, apart from one very important caveat, it is certainly possible to make a reality. It is not a lack of money or resources that may prevent it from happening, but politics and the management of those resources. While the arguments have already begun, this is a chance for science to show its magic.
Considering our recent past and the evidence showing the near-fatal hollowing out of our state and its capacity, it would be entirely reasonable to presume that to vaccinate millions of people in a short period of time is impossible. If we cannot keep the lights on, how can we inoculate so many people in South Africa’s every nook and cranny?
Ina Opperman Vaccines are the most effective and permanent health responses, as demonstrated in the past with the smallpox, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, measles, tetanus, diphtheria (whooping cough) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines that reduced morbidity and mortality. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP)
The good news, according to an analysis by a group of scientists from Wits University, is that we can in fact afford it and they have done the math.
They have illustrated that the overall cost of all three phases of a vaccine roll-out in South Africa, based on the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine and Covax supplies, would be R7.4-billion, with an added R1.2-billion for nursing costs. This means a total outlay of R8.6-billion.
DA calls on govt to publicly release its COVID-19 vaccine plans The party on Friday said securing a vaccine for South Africa should be government’s number one priority. FILE: Professor Martin Veller (L), the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University), receives an experimental vaccine for COVID-19 coronavirus at the Respiratory & Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit (RMPRU) at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto on 14 July 2020. Six senior clinicians in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits University have volunteered to participate in South Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccine trial. Picture: AFP
17 December 2020 - Wits University
Wits University has taken all graduation ceremonies online, following the President’s announcement on Monday night.
All the Faculty of Health Sciences graduation ceremonies that were scheduled to take place from 15 - 18 December 2020 are now being held virtually, followed by a separate online Hippocratic Oath Taking ceremony on Friday.
“We understand that many people are disappointed by our decision to cancel in-person graduations. We have explored multiple options, but if we went ahead with in-person graduations, we would be acting irresponsibly given the President’s request to avoid large gatherings,” explains Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Adam Habib. We sympathise with the students who are graduating, and their families and friends, but given the historic moment in which we find ourselves, we cannot put more people at risk. As an institution, we have to act responsibly, within the law.”