You will undoubtedly have followed developments over the past few days related to the South African COVID-19 vaccine acquisition and rollout programme. Colleagues will be aware that we established the B4SA vaccine platform to provide up-to-date information on bilateral and multilateral engagements with government, hopefully enabling businesses to respond to the latest news.
Dear B4SA and business colleagues,
The country is now experiencing a third wave of the pandemic. We need to get everyone—whether living in well-serviced cities or in less well-connected rural and peri-urban areas—to register on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) if they are 60 years and above.
B4SA thanks South African businesses for its response in helping to reach the almost three million citizens—of a potential 5.5 million—over 60s who have not yet registered for their COVID-19 vaccination on the EVDS. Many older people don’t have reliable internet access or smartphones, while others may not trust or are uncertain of how to use a new system. It is interesting to note that current registration statistics show higher uptake in rural areas, as compared to urban settings.
We are grateful especially for the following initiatives:
Big retailers are helping to register those over-60s collecting their pensions at stores dispensing high volumes of social grants.
FNB will support customers over 60 to register at 600 branches.
South African Breweries launched an advertising campaign that encourages over-60s to register.
For more details, click here
The Phase 2 vaccination rollout continues. As of 10 June, 1,619,011 vaccines had been administered. More vaccination sites are coming online in the private and public sectors. More sites will be brought online as we receive larger volumes of vaccines.
There has been no final indication when the two million J&J doses held in the Gqeberha facility will be released. On Friday night, the Department of Health announced that SAHPRA and SAHPRA will advise if they are suitable for use in South Africa. The department also announced that 300 000 doses of J&J were cleared to be shipped to South Africa as a matter of extreme urgency. We are still, therefore, in a vaccine-constrained environment. Pfizer continues to supply 636,000 vaccines per week.
The number of vaccines administered daily is climbing. As of midnight on 9 June, we are now looking at roughly 85,245 per day. We still have a long way to go.
Keeping up the momentum on the vaccination programme is essential. Still, we cannot forget to do the basics, especially since we are officially in the third wave: wear your masks, wash or sanitise your hands regularly, and maintain social distancing. This also means avoiding large indoor gatherings.
B4SA met with the acting Health Minister—Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane—and reconfirmed its commitment to supporting the NDOH on the vaccination rollout.
We continue to ask for your support and co-operation. Everyone needs to get registered on the government EVDS platform, help others register, and get vaccinated when directed to do so. Here is the link to register—here is the link.
Stay safe—register if you are over 60, and tell and help others do the same.
Martin Kingston, Chairman, B4SA Steering Committee
Guidance to all private sector vaccination sites
B4SA THANKS BUSINESS FOR REGISTERING AS PRIMARY WORKPLACE VACCINATION SITES
B4SA thanks and applauds all businesses registered as a primary workplace vaccination site through the Master Facility List (MFL) process set up by the NDOH. It will certainly assist not only their employees, but all others able to be accommodated by those sites. This will also help the national effort by relieving pressure on the other public and private sector vaccination sites.
B4SA EMPLOYER VACCINATION SITES FACT SHEET
If your organisation is interested in establishing a workplace vaccination site, or if you are in the process of becoming a vaccination site and require assistance, the following updated fact sheet provides guidance and information:
Read more here: FACT SHEET Workplace Sites 7 June 2021
B4SA NDoH vaccination card
This is what your vaccination card will look like:
NDoH vaccine price circular
Click here for information regarding the Department of Health vaccine price circular
NDoH vaccine price circular
Important NDoH guidance on reporting on EVDS and SVS
STOCK VISIBILITY SYSTEM (EVS) AND ELECTRONIC VACCINATION DATA SYSTEM (EVDS)
All public and private vaccination sites must implement the guidance and practice set out in the attached letters by the Director General of Health, Dr Sandile Buthelezi on the correct use of the EVDS and EVS system.
Improved use of the Stock Visibility System (EVS) and Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) for the monitoring and accountability of COVID-19 vaccine and ancillary item stock levels.
DIRECTOR GENERAL HEALTH REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
PRETORIA CAPE TOWN
Private Bag X828, PRETORIA, 0001, 19th Floor, Civitas Building, Cnr Andries and Struben Street, PRETORIA, 0002 Tel (012) 395 8402 Fax (012) 395 8422
P.O. Box 3875, CAPE TOWN, 8000, 103 Parliament Towers, Room 615, 120 Plain Street, CAPE TOWN, 8000 Tel (021) 461 2040 Fax (021) 461 6864
RE: IMPROVED USE OF THE STOCK VISIBILITY SYSTEM AND ELECTRONIC
VACCINATION DATA SYSTEM FOR THE MONITORING AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF COVID-19 VACCINE AND ANCILLARY ITEM STOCK LEVELS
The letter dated 16 April 2021 regarding the use of the Stock Visibility System (SVS) for monitoring COVID-19 vaccine and ancillary items refers (See attached). The Department, through the Affordable Medicine Directorate (AMD), has implemented SVS to enable rapid and timeous access to vaccine and ancillary item availability data during the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.
To date, over 1,300 sites have been registered on the SVS COVID-19 vaccine instance across all provinces and are submitting data that is being used by planners involved in the supply and logistics value chain. Unfortunately, the reporting on the system at present is not in accordance with the stipulated reporting requirements. Additionally, the quality of the data being submitted suggests that end users have not adequately engaged with and understood the materials that have been shared to guide optimal use of the system.
The on-site electronic vaccination data system (EVDS) was developed and deployed as the central system for recording all COVID 19 Vaccinations. The system is the authoritative source of all COVID-19 Vaccinations in the country. This is essential to uniquely identify everyone who has received a vaccine to ensure they can be allocated a second dose (dependant on vaccine regime), support pharmacovigilance, input into the no fault compensation and medicolegal processes and protection against fraud and corruption.
The data from the SVS and the EVDS is reconciled to determine trends on the possible loss and wastage of vaccines. This is an important process to allow for accountability on the use of the vaccines.
USE OF THE STOCK VISIBILITY SYSTEM FOR THE MONITORING COVID-19 VACCINE AND ANCILLARY ITEM STOCK LEVELS
While it is understood that there will be initial challenges in uptake when rolling out new systems, it is also understood that there will be a need for interventions to be made through your office to ensure these initial challenges are overcome and address to improve the Utilization of the on-site EVDS as well as the reporting frequency and data quality of the SVS. The AMD and EVDS Teams will be engaging with your elected points of contact to indicate challenges specific to your facilities and provide suggested remedial actions to resolve these.
The significance of this data to support effective planning and ensure equitable access to and distribution of the limited vaccine and ancillary stock cannot be overstated. To ensure optimal efficiency and rapid turnaround time in the planning process, all sites participating in the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out as vaccination and/or distribution sites where vaccine stock is stored, in both the public and private sector, are requested to submit vaccine and ancillary availability data on SVS in accordance with the set-out reporting requirements.
All vaccination sites are required as per the policy decision to use the EVDS to record vaccinations directly online. The use of manual forms should be limited to exceptional cases e.g. power outage. In such cases, the manual forms should be back captured on the EVDS within 24 hours.
Failure to meet the SVS reporting requirements and recording of vaccinations on the EVDS will result in sites being flagged as non-compliant, and any non-compliant sites may therefore not be eligible to receive further stock replenishments for the COVID-19 vaccines.
For any further queries on this and any other matter relating to the SVS COVID-19 instance, please contact Mr Sithembele Jara ([email protected]), and for EVDS, contact Mr Pierre Fabe ([email protected] )
Kind regards,
Dr Sandile Buthelezi
Director General: Health
Date: 04/06/2021
B4SA will share further policy guidance and circulars as they are finalised.
B4SA
Guidance to all private sector vaccination sites
We have noted that a number of vaccination sites are using the incorrect web address for the Master Facility List (MFL) portal.
Please be advised that the correct web address is:
Official NDOH guidance requires sites to provide vaccinees with at least 72 hours’ notice between receiving an SMS and presenting themselves to a vaccination site.
We recommend that all sites revise their schedules to seven days forward to allow vaccinees sufficient time to plan for their appointments and assist in the advance allocation of stock.
B4SA
All vaccination sites
The Government’s SA coronavirus website has the latest vaccination rollout sites across SA:
there are 456 as of 4 June
To access the list, click on the link below
https://sacoronavirus.co.za/active-vaccination-sites/
REGISTER FOR
YOUR VACCINATION
https://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za
QR Code link to EVDS registration site
The QR code below links directly to the EVDS registration site. Please use it in any print or applicable marketing material to help spread the message.
Users simply need to open the camera app on their mobile phone and point it at the code. A notification will open on the phone, taking them directly to the site to register.
Vaccines for Health Care Workers (V4HCW)
Important changes to booking process since Sisonke
There are no separate websites to register—it is all on one site:
https://bookings.v4hcw.co.za/vax/
Vaccination Communication Toolkit
The government has released a free Vaccination Communications Toolkit for use by all interested parties wanting to contribute to the communications efforts against COVID-19 and in support of vaccination and registration.
The impact:
As of 10 June, the cumulative number of COVID-19 infections (cases) identified in South Africa is 1,722,086.
The total number of deaths stands at 62,448.
News reports of interest
The week’s news, government announcements and interesting reading:
Top Stories
J&J vaccines in Gqebherha plant still in limbo: Sahpra must assess if fit for use in SA
Nicholas Crisp on why vaccination numbers are low on weekends
Explainer on third wave analysis
CPUT first tertiary institution to vaccinate staff and students
FNB to register vaccinees at 600 branches countrywide
Cluster outbreaks in Limpopo Old Age Home
Covid cases on the rise across Gauteng Schools
TUT suspends classes amid soaring cases
NMU (EC) also shuts down classes due to increase in cases
International:
F.D.A. Tells Johnson & Johnson That 60 Million Vaccine Doses Cannot Be Used
Warning on Delta variant: Doctors in India, UK finding that Delta variant symptoms are more severe
US eases restrictions on travel to a number of countries, including SA
San Francisco may be first city to reach herd immunity
G-7 nations gather to pledge 1B vaccine doses for world
Biden announces ‘no strings attached’ global vaccine donation
What are G7 countries promising on COVID vaccines?
The politics of Japan’s Taiwan vaccine donation
Celebrations (and questions) greet US vaccine donation plan
UK to give 100m Covid vaccine doses to poorer countries within a year
High risk of autumn Covid surge in Europe despite drop in infections, says WHO
America may be ‘back’ at G7, but allies’ doubts about U.S. democracy linger
Japan may keep some virus curbs until Games start -paper
Heart inflammation in young men higher than expected after Pfizer, Moderna vaccines -U.S. CDC
Factbox: What is on the G7 summit agenda? (And what is on the dinner menu?)
Europe by ‘no means out of danger’ in fight against pandemic: WHO
Interesting sites
Covid Comms is producing infographics, which are available for free download
Center for Disease Control, USA
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES ON COVID-19
All official government regulations and guidelines are available at https://www.gov.za/coronavirus/guidelines
OFFICIAL RESOURCES:
NICD website: http://www.nicd.ac.za
COVID-19 information website: https://sacoronavirus.co.za
Coronavirus 24-hour Hotline: 0800 029 999
Coronavirus WhatsApp: 060 012 3456
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
www.gov.za
www.facebook.com/GovernmentZA
twitter.com/GovernmentZA
www.youtube.com/user/GovernmentZA
sacoronavirus.co.za
sacoronavirus.co.za/tag/vaccine-toolkits/
twitter.com/COVID_19_ZA
twitter.com/DrZweliMkhize
Business for South Africa fully supports the decisive action taken by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government to help mitigate the health, labour market and economic impacts of the coronavirus. As organised business, we are actively collaborating with government to use business resources and capacity to support public sector initiatives.
We have mobilised volunteer resources from across South Africa business bodies and organisations, member companies large and small, professional services firms as well as communication specialists, to form focused working groups that are driving a coordinated and proactive programme to mitigate the economic, social and health impacts of COVID-19 on South Africa.
