Generous Jpiego donation to assist in vaccination roll- out in WC | Western Cape Government

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Generous Jpiego donation to assist in vaccination roll- out in WC

10 April 2021

With Phase 1 of the COVID-19 Sisonke Vaccination Programme well underway in the Western Cape, the Western Cape Department of Health is preparing to roll out Phase 2 to priority groups in the province. A key part of the vaccination roll-out is to boost vaccinator capacity. This includes devices to aid registration of people who qualify to receive the COVID-19 vaccination as well as extra staff resources needed.

The generous donation from Jhpiego of 6 laptops, 25 tablets, tables and chairs, as well as funding for a number of additional staff members for a specific period, will make a welcome contribution towards the successful roll-out of the programme.

“This is really an opportunity that we saw to further support the government of South Africa in the Western Cape Department of Health. We have a very good support relationship with the Department of Health in the Western Cape and have been working together since 2018. Now with the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine, we saw a huge need to also be involved and participate. It is a small step towards a bigger contribution in future, hopefully. We are here to help make sure that the Western Cape Department of Health gets all the resources that they need to make the vaccine roll-out successful,” says Mehebub Kassim Mahomed, Country Director for Jhpiego SA. 

Western Cape Government Health Chief of Operations, Dr Saadiq Kariem, thanks Jhpiego and says the equipment will definitely aid the roll-out of the vaccination programme. “We are extremely grateful to Jhpiego for their generous donation. It is worth over R1 m. and we’ve taken stock of some laptops and some IT equipment. They are also funding some staffing requirements that we have. We are grateful for the relationship that we have with Jhpiego and we will put the donation to extremely good use.”