The South African Police Service (SAPS) Vaccination Programme is gaining momentum with a thousand more officers vaccinated at close of business a day after the launch of the rollout programme. On day two of the programme, a total of 2055 vaccines had been administered to police officers and support personnel at both the Orlando Stadium in Soweto and the SAPS Tshwane Academy vaccination site’s following Monday’s launch.
At Orlando Stadium, 760 members were vaccinated, bringing the total number of members who have been vaccinated over the first two days at the site to 1285. At SAPS Tshwane Academy, a second vaccination site, a total of 770 members had been vaccinated over two days.
Fifty-eight-year-old Constance Makhaye, a cleaner at the SAPS Tshwane Academy was among those who got vaccinated on day two. The member with 25 years of Service said she was elated to have finally received the vaccine. She had this to say, “I feel very happy about today, I was initially scared to vaccinate, now that I have received my vaccine, I am going to encourage my other colleagues to come and be the next in line to get vaccinated”.
Forty-eight-year-old Captain Daniel Dhanarajan is a trainer attached to the SAPS Atteridgeville Academy. The member has 22 years service, he too was extremely excited to get vaccinated. The member had this to say, “I feel very strong and relieved to know that my colleagues, family and I will be safe and guarded against the severe effects of this virus”.
As of Tuesday evening, the number of members that tested positive for the virus remains 32 565. The number of recoveries still stands at 30 955 but the number of members that have died has sadly risen to 673. While vaccination is voluntary, the SAPS continues to encourage all members to get vaccinated in a bid to operate optimally in serving and protecting the people of South Africa.
Vaccinating our members does not mean we should stop adhering to the non-pharmaceutical health and safety protocols. The Service will continue to ensure that all health and safety protocols at all service points remain in place and are adhered to by members.
The SAPS in consultation with the Department of Health (DOH) would like to bring it to the attention of our members that there is an exclusion criteria for vaccination, this means that there are those who will not qualify to be vaccinated. The following members will be excluded:
– Anyone who has contracted Covid-19 in the last 30 days
– Any person who has received a flu vaccine within 14 days
– Any member who has been vaccinated prior to SAPS Vaccination rollout program commencing
The Service continues to monitor preparations in place for the nationwide rollout at all 108 registered sites. The provincial rollouts will commence on Thursday, 08 July 2021 in 8 provinces. Gauteng will be the last province to roll out its vaccination drive from Friday, 09 July 2021.
