Category: COVID-19 Corona Virus

The Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services has appealed to employers, supported by employees and organised labour to comply with the COVID-19 occupational health and safety direction or face fines.

Published on 11 June 2021, the minimum requirements of the 4th Direction, “Occupational health and safety measures in workplaces, COVID-19, 2021,” applies to employers and workers in workplaces who are permitted to continue or commence operations under the Disaster Management Regulations.

These Directions apply for the duration of the national state of disaster and are subject to the employer’s obligations under the OHSA to conduct a risk assessment, while employers with less than 10 employees need only to apply Section 12 of Directions.

In a statement, the department’s Chief Inspector Tibor Szana said that if the employer employs more than 50 employees, that employer must submit a record of its risk assessment, to its health and safety committee and retain a written copy of that risk assessment, plan and policy.

“In addition to the other duties placed on the employer, an employer who employs more than 50 employees in a workplace must submit the following categories of data to the NIOH in the manner set out in the National Department of Health Guidelines,” Szana said.

The department says the employer must submit the data referred to hereunder in the following manner: Only once in respect of each employee’s status, for example, each employee’s vulnerability status for serious outcomes of a COVID -19 infection.

Before Tuesday of each week in respect of the data referred to hereunder for the previous calendar week commencing on Sunday, that is:

• details of the COVID -19 screening of employees who are symptomatic;
• details of employees who test positive in terms of a positive laboratory test;
• the number of employees identified as high risk contacts within the workplace if a worker has been confirmed as being positive; and
• details on the post-infection outcomes of those testing positive, including the return to work assessment outcome.

The Chief Inspector said that the employer must inform its employees of the submission made to the National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH) or Department of Health and advise them of its adherence to the PoPI Act, 2013 (Act No.4 of 2013).

“The employer may submit the indicated data to an employer association if the association has entered into an agreement with the NIOH to receive, process and submit the data to the Institute; and undertaken to submit the data on behalf of the employer,” he said.

In relation to Section 16 of the Direction, the department said that the following should be taken cognisance of:

• If a person fails to comply with this direction, an inspector may perform any of the functions in section 29 of the OHSA and exercise any of the powers listed in section 30 of the OHSA in order to monitor compliance with this Direction.
• In so far as any contravention of these Directions constitutes a contravention of an obligation or prohibition under the OHSA, the offences and penalties provided for in section 38 of the OHSA apply.

“It is therefore a contravention not to comply with the Direction published by the Minister of Employment and Labour and is punishable by up to R100 000 or two years’ imprisonment or both in the case where an employee becomes injured or dies,” Szana said.

The data indicated above can be sent to the following:

For the data collection and transfer to commence, the business or organisation would need to be registered using the Occupational Health Surveillance Systems Web Portal (available through this link: https://ohss.nioh.ac.za/ ) so that a Unique Business ID is allocated to the business. This unique business identity would need to be provided in every data submission transaction to the NIOH.

For data reporting, the OHSS support desk can be contacted via email: OHSworkplace@nioh.ac.za or telephone: 0713981169 or 0723215503 and for technical queries, the IT support desk can be contacted via email: ohssupport@nioh.ac.za

Templates and more information on the OHSS can be found at: https://www.nioh.ac.za/covid-19/occupational-health-surveillance-system-ohss-business-portal/

The use of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine will remain not approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) amid concerns that it may increase the risk of HIV contraction among vaccinated males.

The development was confirmed on Monday by the Authority in a media statement on the Section 21 application for Sputnik V by Lamar international Pty (Ltd).

In the statement, SAHPRA said it was concerned that use of the Sputnik V vaccine in South Africa, a country with high HIV prevalence and incidence, “may increase the risk of vaccinated males acquiring HIV”.

Despite this, the Authority said the rolling review of the Sputnik V vaccine would remain open for submission of relevant safety data in support of the application.

“SAHPRA has been engaged in a rolling review of the data for the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine since the initial application was submitted on 23 February 2021.

“This vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in the Russian Federation. The locally-licensed applicant is Lamar International Pty (Ltd).

“The Sputnik V vaccine combines two separate adenovirus-vectored constructs, one relying on the Adenovirus Type 26 (Ad26) and the other on Adenovirus Type 5 (Ad5), as the delivery vehicles for the antigen.”

Concerns have been raised about the safety of Ad5-vectored vaccines in populations at risk for HIV infection.

One of the challenges faced by such vaccines, said SAHPRA, was the presence of pre-existing Ad-specific neutralising antibodies (NAbs) in the general population.

“The safety of adenovirus vaccine vectors has been evaluated in a number of studies. In particular, the results of the STEP trial (which primarily recruited men who have sex with men in the Americas), and the PHAMBILI trial (which recruited heterosexual men and women in South Africa), were considered.

“Both clinical trials were designed to administer three doses of an Ad5-vectored vaccine encoding the HIV gag, pol and nef proteins. In both the STEP clinical and PHAMBILI trials, administration of an Ad5-vectored vaccine was associated with enhanced susceptibility/acquisition of HIV in men.”

SAHPRA said while the STEP trial was stopped in September 2007 due to lack of efficacy, evidence quickly emerged of an enhanced risk of HIV infection in uncircumcised men with high titers of pre-existing antibodies to Ad5.

It said over extended follow-up, the increased risk of HIV among vaccine recipients became “statistically significant when the entire trial population was analysed”.

The STEP trial results led to the early cessation of the PHAMBILI trial. Although the initial results from the PHAMBILI trial did not show enhanced HIV risk, this risk was confirmed after extended follow-up.

The Authority said during the assessment of the application for approval of the Sputnik V vaccine, SAHPRA reviewed the outcomes of the two trials in detail, as well as the arguments advanced in a commentary in Lancet in 2020, by Buchbinder et al.

In particular, reads the statement, the commentary pointed to confirmatory data from a non-human primate challenge study.

Subsequently SAHPRA, it said, requested the applicant to provide data demonstrating the safety of the Sputnik V vaccine in settings of high HIV prevalence and incidence.

The applicant was not able to adequately address SAHPRA’s request.

In addition, SAHPRA said it had held a consultation meeting with expert committees, including leading members of the local and international scientific community on this matter.

SAHPRA added that to date, the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine has not received Emergency Use Listing by the World Health Organization (WHO).

It said most recent WHO update indicates that the process is “on hold, awaiting completion of rolling submission”.

A further note states: “Anticipated date will be set once all data is submitted and follow-up of inspection observations completed”.

“Recent media coverage has confirmed that there is ongoing engagement between WHO and the Russian authorities.”

The resolution to not grant the application to date was after the authority held consultations with local and international scientific experts and after considering all the available data, including review of the dossier submitted by Lamar International (Pty) Ltd.

South Africa has recorded 414 new COVID-19 cases, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 916 593 since the outbreak.

The increase represents a 1.8% positivity rate.

“There has been an increase of 18 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours,” the Department of Health said in a statement.

A further 25 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 88 612 to date.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, said it continues to provide laboratory-based surveillance to inform the public health response towards COVID-19 in South Africa.

According to the department, 18 174 247 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

In the private sector, 9 793 716 tests were conducted, while 8 380 531 tests were conducted in the public sector.

The majority of new cases are from the Western Cape (22%), followed by Gauteng, accounting for 21%.

KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 16% of the new cases, Free State 13%, Northern Cape 11%, Eastern Cape 7%, North West 5%, Mpumalanga 3% and Limpopo 2%.

The cumulative number of cases by province is: Eastern Cape 31, Northern Cape 45, Limpopo 7, Western Cape 93, Free State 52, KwaZulu-Natal 67, North West 21, Mpumalanga 11 and Gauteng 87.

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has announced that the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on COVID-19 Vaccines has advised that additional doses be given to individuals with compromised immunity.

This includes those who are on long-term oral steroid therapy for autoimmune conditions and various treatments for haematological or immune malignancies.

The group will also comprise those with solid organ or bone marrow transplants, renal dialysis and primary immunological disorders.

“The advice is that these categories of patients be offered an additional dose over the prescribed normal, but this must be strictly under the referral by their medical doctor under their supervision,” Phaahla explained.

Johns Hopkins Medicine defines a COVID-19 booster shot as an additional dose of a vaccine given after the protection provided by the original shot(s) has begun to decrease over time, which is designed to help people maintain their level of immunity for longer.

The Minister was on Friday addressing a media briefing on government efforts in the fight against COVID-19 and the national vaccination rollout programme.

Healthcare workers

He also touched on the matter by some healthcare workers who were vaccinated under the Sisonke Study with Johnson & Johnson (J&J), who are calling to be considered for booster COVID-19 vaccine doses as eight months have passed since their first jab.

“The request is receiving attention and we are working with the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) on a possible approach,” he said.

In addition, he said the SAMRC has since applied to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to consider a J&J booster to follow the Sisonke Study.

According to the Minister, this will be subsequently used in the second study on the possible benefit of enhanced immunity with a booster of the otherwise one dose vaccine.

The first study commenced on 17 February 2021 and concluded on 17 May 2021, reaching over 470 000 healthcare workers in over 120 sites across the country.

Mixing vaccines

He also spoke about another issue of people who come from other countries have received vaccines, which are not used now in South Africa.

According to Phaahla these are either foreign nationals who reside in South Africa, had gone home, and received a vaccine such as AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sputnik or Sinovac.

“We are not able to provide second doses where they are required and neither can we give them a vaccine certificate when they need one.”

However, the Minister said his department has received a recommendation that these individuals can be offered one dose of Pfizer to complete their two doses, as there is evidence that AstraZeneca and Moderna combine well with Pfizer.

“It’s believed that it’s safe with the others as well,” he added.

Phaahla has once again called on South Africans to come forward and contribute towards their health safety and that of their families, friends and co-workers by vaccinating.

“By so doing we can reclaim our lives as experienced by the 2 000 fans at the Bafana Bafana versus Ethiopia game of which I was honoured to be a part of.”

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has gazetted the extension of the National State of Disaster on COVID-19 until 15 November 2021.

The extension, the Ministry said in a statement, was in terms of section 27(5)(c) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002).

The Ministry said the decision to extend the state of national disaster followed consultations with relevant stakeholders and Cabinet approval.

“The extension takes into account the need to continue observing all non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 and increasing vaccinations as part of contingency measures being undertaken to mitigate against its impact,” Dlamini Zuma said.

Dlamini Zuma said government remains committed to saving lives and ensuring that more people get vaccinated, as it is the only way to safely open the economy and go back to normal life.

The Department of Health has started issuing out the country’s COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate to fully vaccinated adults.

This is after the South African COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate System portal was officially launched by the Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, on Friday, 9 October 2021.

The system will allow users to create a QR code showing their COVID-19 inoculation status and will be available to adults who are fully vaccinated.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in September the rollout of the vaccine certificate as proof that residents have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The digital pass system can be used to show vaccination status to facilitate travel, access to establishments, gatherings and other forms of activity.

The President explained that government’s approach was informed by the World Health Organisation guidelines and that it was in line with international best practice and said he believes that it could go a long way towards getting a number of international travel restrictions both from and into our country eased.

Phaahla told journalists last week that the certificate could be used for travel and tourism, sport and recreation events, music festivals, shops that are providing discounts and prizes for people who are vaccinated.

In addition, the Minister said there is still going to be more improvements in the next two months with regards to the safety and security of the certificate.

The department has since answered some of the citizens’ frequently asked questions.

1. Why does my COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate have an expiry date?

The COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate available from 8 October 2021 does not include an expiry date. Only those that were issued during the testing phase have an expiry date.

2. Why are there new versions of the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate?

Additional features such as a scannable QR code and digital (cryptographic) signatures will be gradually phased in. The Department of Health will advise on the availability of newer versions of the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate as they become available.

3. When will the new versions of the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate become available?

The next version of the digital COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate will be ready towards the end of October 2021. The COVID-19 Vaccine Passport linked to a mobile application will be ready towards the end of November 2021.

4. The COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate website asks for an ID or passport number. Are foreign passports, asylum-seeking and refugee numbers accepted?

Yes, if it is the same number from the ID document you used when you registered on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) portal and at the vaccination site.

5. What should I do if I lost the EVDS vaccination code that was sent via SMS?

You can phone the COVID-19 Public Hotline at 0800 029 999. The agent will be able to provide you with the vaccination code or resend you the SMS with the required code.

6. I did not receive my COVID-19 vaccination code via SMS. Why did this happen?

There are three possible reasons:

• The SMS did not reach you due to mobile network issues at the time.
• Your mobile number is not correct on EVDS.
• Your vaccination record was not captured on the EVDS at the time of vaccination. However, you can verify this by calling the COVID-19 Public Hotline at 0800 029 999. If the agent cannot confirm your vaccination record on the EVDS, you should contact the site where you were vaccinated to capture your record on the system.

7. Can I use the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate for international travel?

Most countries should accept digital certificates. However, it depends on the policy of the country you are visiting and verification requirements. You should present this certificate along with your passport. Your RSA ID number is printed in your South African passport to allow for verification of the ID number.

8. My personal details are not correct on the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate

It is your responsibility or the person registering you on your behalf to ensure that your information is captured correctly when registering for vaccination. This information should be verified and can further be corrected at the vaccination site before the vaccine is administered.

You can call the COVID-19 public hotline at 0800 029 999 where an agent will be able to correct your details or send an email with the details to be changed to evdsqueries@health.gov.za. One of the agents will contact you.

9. The QR code on the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate does not work

The content of the QR code on the current version of the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate is not human readable. Travel authorities and third parties to verify the validity and authenticity of the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate can scan the QR code on the next version of the certificate.

10. What is Jansen and Comirnaty?

The name of the vaccine and not the manufacturer is published on the COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate. Johnson and Johnson is the manufacturer of the Janssen vaccine, while Pfizer is the manufacturer of the Comirnaty vaccine.

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has gazetted the amendment of Disaster Management Act regulations, to allow  spectators at sports venue.

Amended on Sunday, the Minister in the gazette said the move comes after government eased lockdown restrictions following a drastic decline in COVID-19 infections in the country.

“The decrease in the number of infections, as well as consultations with relevant stakeholders, has prepared the path for recognised sporting bodies to host sporting events, including both professional and non-professional competitions, subject to strict adherence to the guidelines,” said Dlamini Zuma.

Under the new regulations, as part of phase one towards fully reopening sporting activities, spectators at the venue of the sports events are permitted but limited to 750 persons or less for indoor venues and 2 000 persons or less for outdoor venues.

“If the venue is too small to hold the prescribed number of persons observing a distance of at least one and a half metres from each other, then not more than 505 of the capacity of the venue may be used, subject to strict adherence to all health protocols and social distancing measures.

“As we go out to sporting events to support our teams, let us do so recognising that COVID-19 is still with us. Let us unite in observing COVID-19 protocols by wearing masks, washing hands, and adhering to social distancing measures,” she said.

South Africa has administered 197 698 COVID-19 jabs in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of doses to 18 285 920.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health said 9 364 725 adults are now fully vaccinated, of which 141 865 people were jabbed with Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine or the two-dose Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday.

In addition, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said the country logged 768 new infections, pushing the number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 907 619.

The majority of new cases were reported in KwaZulu-Natal (193), followed by Western Cape (151) and Gauteng (127).

“This increase represents a 2.7% positivity rate,” the NICD said, adding that the seven-day moving average daily number of cases continues to decrease.

The dashboard also shows that 103 more people succumbed to the respiratory disease.

This means the official death toll now stands at 87 922 since the outbreak.

The information is based on the 17 828 983 tests, of which 28 549 were conducted since the last reporting cycle.

In addition, there were 110 new hospital admissions in the past day, which means 6 036 patients are currently receiving treatment for COVID-19 in both public and private health institutions across the country.

The public health institute has reminded citizens to adhere to preventative measures such as getting vaccinated for COVID-19, wearing masks, opting to gather in ventilated spaces, avoiding unnecessary gatherings, keeping a social distance of one meter or more and washing hands regularly with soap and water.

“This helps to limit your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19,” the NICD said.

According to the World Health Organisation, as of 5 October 2021, there were now 235 175 106 globally confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 4 806 841 deaths.

Global view

According to the WHO’s weekly epidemiological update, the number of weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to decline.

“This is a trend that has been observed since August,” the agency explained.

Meanwhile, the WHO reported that over 3.1 million new cases and just over 54 000 new deaths were recorded during the week of 27 September to 3 October 2021.

The report shows that cases this week dropped by 9% as compared to the previous week, while deaths remained similar.

All regions reported a decline in the number of new cases this week apart from the European region, which remained similar to the week before.

The highest numbers of new cases were reported from the United States (760 571 new cases, similar to the previous week), the United Kingdom (239 781 new cases, similar to the previous week), Turkey (197 277 new cases, similar to the previous week), Russia (165 623 new cases, 13% increase), and India (161 158 new cases, 21% decrease).

Globally, the Delta variant, which is by far the world’s most dominant Coronavirus variant, has been reported in 192 countries.

The Department of Health has confirmed that its currently testing South Africa’s digital COVID-19 vaccine certificate to “troubleshoot” all possible glitches ahead of the official launch.

This comes after the South African COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate System portal went live on Tuesday.

The system will allow users to create a QR code showing their COVID-19 inoculation status and will be available to adults who are fully vaccinated.

However, the department explained that the system is not officially functional in a live environment, which will enable vaccinated individuals to access and download certificates.

“We had to build a lot of security into the system to protect individuals’ personal data as much as possible.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last week that the department will soon roll out the vaccine certificate as proof that residents have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The digital pass system could be used to show vaccination status to facilitate travel, access to establishments, gatherings and other forms of activity.

“Our approach is informed by the World Health Organisation guidelines and is in line with international best practice,” the President explained.

“Streamlining and standardising proof of vaccination will also go a long way towards getting a number of international travel restrictions both from and into our country eased,” he added.

According to the department, the development and release of fully-fledged COVID-19 vaccination certificates will be phased in over time.

“We request members of the public to exercise patience while we implement the final refinement as we prepare to make official the first version of the COVID-19 vaccination digital certificate.”

However, the department said it was aware that a few “lucky” people were able to access the system and download their passports.

South Africa has now crossed the 18 million mark for administered COVID-19 vaccine doses.

This comes after government distributed 184 324 in the past 24 hours.

According to the Department of Health, this means the country has now given 18 073 784 vaccines since its rollout programme.

Meanwhile, as of Monday, the number of fully vaccinated adults now stands at 9 213 503, of which 129 539 people were jabbed by Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine or the two-dose series made by Pfizer in the last 24 hours.

The dashboard also shows that 57.16% of vaccinees are females, while 42.84% are males.

Meanwhile, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported 429 new COVID-19 cases and 39 fatalities.

This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 906 851 and 87 819 for the death toll.

According to the NICD, the vast majority of new cases were logged in the Western Cape after 93 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus.

The province is followed by 90 infections in KwaZulu-Natal, 82 in Gauteng and 41 in Free State.

“This increase represents a 2.6% positivity rate,” the public health institute said, adding that the seven-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased.

In addition, there were 52 new hospital admissions in the past day, which means 6 166 patients are currently receiving treatment for COVID-19 in both public and private health institutions across the country.

The information is based on the 17 800 434 test conducted since the last reporting cycle, of which 16 514 were conducted on Monday.

As of 4 October 2021, there have been 234 809 103 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 4 800 375 deaths and over six billion administered vaccines reported to the World Health Organisation.