Discovery Health, the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town will be pioneering a collaboration between the public and private health sectors at the ‘Mass Vaccination Centre of Hope’ at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

This is in line with the memorandum of understanding between the parties that will see them partner to jointly operate the mass vaccination centre to provide equal access to Covid-19 vaccinations for uninsured and insured residents in the metro.

In a statement released on Thursday, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said the parties will jointly manage the site day-to-day to ensure that it runs efficiently and effectively, ensuring a seamless vaccination experience for all who attend, both medical scheme members and uninsured residents of the metro.

“By collaborating in this way, the CTICC will be one of the largest and most sophisticated vaccination sites in the country, leveraging the combined resources and capacity of both the public and private sector, and thereby accelerating access to vaccination for greater numbers of residents,” he said.

The CTICC mass vaccination site is expected to administer over 750 000 vaccinations over 6 months with 50 vaccination stations planned at the site.

Winde assured that all residents who have registered for the Covid-19 vaccine on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS), regardless of whether they have medical aid or not, will be eligible to be scheduled for vaccination at the site when it is their turn to be vaccinated.

“Every person, no matter where they live, or what they earn, should have access to life-saving vaccines, and so I warmly welcome this collaboration with Discovery. This project clearly demonstrates the importance of the private sector in our province and what can be achieved when we work together with them. I hope this is the first of many more public-private-sector collaborations in this space, and I look forward to the site opening soon,” he stated.

Winde said that it was envisaged the site will go live in early July, with an initial contract period to mid-December 2021.   

“Vaccinations will be free of charge for everyone visiting the site, enabled by payment agreements between medical aids and the Department of Health to provide a hassle-free experience to all residents,” he explained.

The site will house cold-chain refrigeration, waste management processes and IT infrastructure, and the capability to administer both the Pfizer-BioNTech double dose and Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccines.

City of Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato said the partnership with the private sector was vital as the vaccination roll-out was ramped up. He added that the City of Cape Town and partners jointly began preparation for the site in March to determine how the site would be managed, its layout and the associated costs to ensure the venue is able to facilitate the mass vaccination campaign.

“Responding to the Covid-19 pandemic requires a collaborative effort across all spheres of government, as well as the private sector to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to support the national vaccination campaign. The City is pleased to be part of this effort to help ensure greater access to Covid-19 vaccinations,” he said.