‘I will vaccinate when my age group is opened’: Kubayi clears the air on ‘special vaccinations’ circular

Acting health minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has set the record straight regarding a circular which approves the vaccination of politicians before their age cohort.

The letter made the rounds on social media on Tuesday and sparked wide-ranging criticism and outrage as scores questioned the preference of politicians.

Kubayi said the circular was not approved by the interministerial committee (IMC) and was withdrawn.

“I have consistently maintained I will vaccinate when my age group is opened. This is the stance by many of my colleagues,” the minister said about the circular that acknowledges that some recipients fall outside the vaccine rollout eligibility criteria.

It lists, among others ministers, deputy ministers, premiers and MECs and their direct staff and people travelling abroad for work and business purposes. 

Deputy health department director-general Dr Nicholas Crisp said the department was inundated with queries about the circular and confirmed it has been “withdrawn in its entirety”.

Gauteng recently kicked off the vaccinations of people aged 50 and older. Phase 2 of vaccinations targeted people aged 60 and above from mid-April.

In the past 24 hours, the government in partnership with the private sector administered 164,874 vaccines, with Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape administering an accumulative total of 123,739 vaccines.