As violent protests continued in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal on Monday, vaccination centres in both provinces were advised to close their doors.

The Daily Maverick reports that Dr Nicholas Crisp, who is heading the vaccination process, said they had advised vaccination centres both in the private and the public sectors to close. There are 252 public and 120 private vaccination sites in Gauteng, while KwaZulu-Natal has 423 public and 35 private sites.

The Health MEC of KZN, Nomagugu Simelane said that healthcare facilities in the province were “buckling” as the result of pressure created by the widespread protests and major routes having been blockaded. She said, “A number of hospitals, community health centres and clinics across KwaZulu-Natal have been operating on skeletal staff, with many nurses, doctors, allied health workers and support staff unable to report for work due to the blockades, as well as lack of public transport.” The MEC added, “In some instances, vehicles were barred from delivering much-needed oxygen that was intended for use by patients battling Covid-19 and other ailments.” Simelane called for protesters not to create a situation where health workers were impeded from getting to work, saying that there were scores of people in hospitals who were fighting for their lives, and who needed to be urgently attended to by medical staff.

Meanwhile, according to the Daily Maverick, an ambulance was burnt in Howick last night, while in Marianhill, another was attacked with rocks.

The Daily Maverick reports that pharmacy company, Dischem, had also closed Dis-Chem Pharmacies, Dis-Chem Vaccination Sites and Dis-Chem Drive Through Testing Stations on Monday, due to the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal. Momentum’s Cornubia vaccination centre in Umhlanga was also closed.

Umm Muhammed Umar