Health minister on lifting South Africa’s state of disaster and new vaccine mandates
Health minister Joe Phaahla says his department has been hard at work to formulate new regulations to replace the country’s state of disaster and is now ready to present its proposals to the cabinet and the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC).
In a media briefing on Friday (4 March), Phaahla said these recommendations would replace the National Disaster Act.
“We hope the reviewed health regulations and other regulations from other departments will assist in guiding a reopening – especially in the leisure and tourism industries,” he said.
Phaahla said senior government officials are also likely to present policies on vaccine mandates in South Africa in these meetings after holding consultations with the private sector and the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). Phaahla said the NCCC meeting is expected to be held in the next week.
“While there are differing views, the undisputed fact is that the more people vaccinate, the more we can open up the economy and there can be more social interaction,” he said.
South Africa’s state of disaster is currently set to expire on 15 March 2022. This would make it nearly 24 months the country has been under a state of disaster since it was first declared at the end of March 2020.
While the national state of disaster was initially set to lapse on 15 June 2020, the act provides that it can be extended by the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister by notice in the gazette for one month at a time before it lapses.
The government has relied on the regulations to introduce and give effect to lockdown restrictions, which it has used to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, it has also faced criticism for giving national government wide-ranging powers over the lives of citizens, with few limits and little to no oversight from parliament.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that the latest extension will be the last. Phaahla has previously said the Health Department would be presenting draft regulations relating to:
- The surveillance and the control of notifiable medical conditions;
- Public health measures at points of entry;
- The management of human remains; and
- Environmental health.
Eased restrictions
Phaahla said the government is still aiming for a 70% vaccination target, which would allow it to further ease restrictions as has been the case internationally. Fully vaccinated individuals currently stand at about 17 million (43%), he said.
“If we were to reach 70% coverage, this will make us able to open up a lot more activities and reduce the need for a lot of the health measures.
“The biggest drawback is the young population between 18 and 34 years of age. We need at least 5 million more of this age group (to vaccinate) so that they can boost their coverage to at least 60% which will also push the national coverage closer to at least 60%,” he said.
Phhalha said the government has also made changes to the vaccination campaign and that the time frames for the second doses and the boosters have been brought closer due to available capacity.
“We have enough stock and enough capacity. Beyond this year, it will be very difficult to interact with other nations without vaccination. Let’s make sure we are not left behind”.
South Africa reported 1,853 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday (4 March), taking the total reported to 3,679,539.
Deaths have reached 99,499 (+41), while recoveries have climbed to 3,554,282, leaving the country with a balance of 25,758 active cases and a recovery rate of 96,6%. A total of 31,879,613 vaccines have been administered.
Read: Big changes proposed for South Africa’s state of disaster
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