As such, individual institutions will determine essential services. ADSA, together with SASPEN, has developed a statement and supporting document to demonstrate the importance of dietetic services during the lockdown period, specifically pertaining to hospital and critical care settings. These documents may assist individual dietitians to be recognised as essential services by their respective institutions.

With regards to dietitians in private practices outside of hospital settings, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) granted special approval for practitioners rendering essential services to remain accessible to their existing patients through the use of tele-health for managing clients remotely using virtual platforms. This approval only applies to the lock-down period and within prescribed guidelines. Please refer to Question 3 for further details.

PUBLIC SECTOR

According to the directive issued by the Department of Public Service and Administration on Wednesday 25 March 2020 (view here), respective national and provincial heads of departments will identify the minimum critical jobs necessary for service and business continuity and implement operational measures accordingly. Further guidance can be obtained from respective provincial health authorities in this regard.

• ​Minimise personal effects in the workplace. All personal items should be removed before entering clinical areas and donning PPE. This includes jewellery, cell phones, pagers, stationery, etc.

• If you are required to consult with a client during an emergency, ask your client to inform you immediately if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 and inform your clients and close contacts immediately if you are diagnosed with COVID-19.

• Do not meet with clients if you are experiencing symptoms such a fever, runny nose, cough, shortness of breath or a sore throat and vice versa.

This communication is shared in order to keep ADSA members informed on developments and progress with regards to COVID-19 vaccination and is based on best current knowledge. Further information will be communicated as it becomes available.

South Africa is currently planning the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccination and will soon commence with the provision and administration of the vaccine.

VACCINATION APPROACH

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine will take a three-phase approach, based on the availability of the vaccine and starting with the most vulnerable in our population, as follows:

Phase 1 healthcare workers, targeting 1.25 million people

Phase 2 essential workers, persons in congregate settings, persons over 60 years and persons over 18 years with co-morbidities

Phase 3 persons older than 18 years, targeting 22,5 million people

The first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine (the Oxford University-Astra Zeneca vaccine), expected to arrive in South Africa towards the end of January 2021, is allocated for the vaccination of healthcare workers (clinical and support staff) in the public and private sector.

In phase 1 of the vaccination programme, healthcare workers will further be divided into risk categories reflecting their risk of contracting COVID-19, with those in the priority categories receiving vaccination first.

Category 1

Those inducting aerosol-generating procedures, i.e. intubation, ventilation, taking COVID-19 specimens

Category 2

Those in direct contact with known or suspected COVID-19 patients

Category 3

Those in contact with patients who are known or suspected to have COVID-19

Category 4

Those not in contact with patients

VACCINATION PLATFORMS

Delivery of the vaccine during Phase 1 will be through three platforms, namely:

1.Work-based vaccination programme

Administered at district level in public and private hospitals, mostly targeted at hospital linked healthcare workers

1.Outreach work-based vaccination programme

Mobile teams moving from facility to facility, mostly targeted at healthcare workers in primary healthcare, community health workers and private medical centres

1.Vaccination centres (remote or facility based)

Vaccination centres could include community pharmacies and are most suitable for independent healthcare workers

The National Government will source, purchase, distribute (to provincial governments and the private sector) and oversee the rollout of the vaccine. A national register for COVID-19 vaccinations will be established. The vaccination system will be based on a pre-vaccination registration and appointment system which will mostly be administered through employers (workplace platform). Vaccination will be recorded on a national register and a vaccination card will be issued.

ADSA will continue to keep members up to date as new information emerges..  Enquiries may be directed to your human resource department, where applicable, or contact adsapublicsector@gmail.com

Information sources that members might find useful are listed below:

• All you need to know about COVID-19 and vaccines (pdf)

• COVID-19 South African Online Portal (https://sacoronavirus.co.za/)
  For more information specific to the vaccine and the rollout thereof, the following sub-pages provide valuable information that can be visited (https://sacoronavirus.co.za/vaccine-updates/) and (https://sacoronavirus.co.za/tag/vaccine-in-the-media/).

• The National Institute for Communicable Disease (https://www.nicd.ac.za/)
  You will find relevant blogs on the homepage addressing questions such as:  
  o    Can I be re-infected with the new variant if I’ve had COVID-19? 
  o    COVID-19 Vaccines: What you should know

• Spotlight (note that this is a journalism source)
  The article answers vaccine-related questions, adding the date that the information was last updated. 
  https://www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2021/01/26/31-questions-and-answers-on-the-covid-vaccines/

• WHO
  https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-vaccines?adgroupsurvey={adgroupsurey}&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIppDrofCu7gIVmbt3Ch11mgoKEAAYAiAAEgKNqvD_BwE
  https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines