Strong evidence is emerging in the Western Cape of the protection offered by Covid-19 vaccines, as far fewer cases are being registered among healthcare workers in the current surge in infections than in previous waves.
Healthcare workers were the first group to be offered shots in the government’s phased vaccine rollout, which began in February.
The Western Cape health department has so far inoculated 67% of its 34,400 employees, and recorded 320 breakthrough infections among these personnel, a rate of 1.4%. Breakthrough infections are infections that occur more than 28 days after vaccination. Nine of the cases were among people who received the Pfizer vaccine, and 311 among people who got the Johnson & Johnson shot. Seven patients were hospitalised, but none were admitted to intensive-care units and none died, said Western Cape head of health Keith Cloete.
The Western Cape health department data is broadly in line with recent figures released by the Medical Research Council on the Sisonke healthcare worker study, which found 94% of breakthrough infections were mild, 4% were moderate, and only 2% were severe. The Sisonke study provided the J&J shot to approximately 480,000 healthcare workers and ended in mid-May.
Western Cape, which is well into its third wave of infections, currently has 310 active coronavirus cases among its healthcare workforce, a fraction of the number who were out of circulation in previous surges, said Cloete.
“The evidence is compelling. Vaccines work. They remain our best intervention, together with nonpharmaceutical interventions, to protect our workforce,” he said.
The provincial health department registered 2,282 cases among its workforce in December, and 1,290 in January, when the second wave was in full force.
Cloete said the take-up of vaccines was highest among doctors (80%) and lowest among administrative staff (50%). Seventy percent of nurses, and 77% of dental practitioners were vaccinated, he said.
The Western Cape recorded a sharp increase in the number of new daily cases recorded in the past week, despite rationing public-sector tests to people aged 45 and over. An average of 1,969 new coronavirus cases per day was recorded in the past week. Hospital cases are also rising, with an average of 170 new admissions per day in the past week, and the province recorded an average of 35 Covid-19 deaths per day over the same period.
Cloete said the department was planning for a third wave as bad as the second wave, but would have a clearer idea of what to expect once modellers provided updated projections that took the emergence of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant into account.
The provincial health department is already using the Brackengate field hospital, established in 2020 during the first wave of infection, and has expanded bed capacity for Covid-19 patients at the Mitchells Plain Hospital of Hope, a field hospital in the grounds of Lentegeur Hospital. It is currently planning for new hospital admissions to reach 500 a day by mid-July, said Cloete.
The province has steadily ramped up its vaccination drive, which, in line with national guidelines, is now open to people aged 50 years and above. It currently has 193 active vaccination sites, and provided 29,658 shots at both public- and private-sector sites on Wednesday, the highest daily tally to date.
Earlier this week the provincial government launched a mass vaccination site at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), which it is running in partnership with health and life insurer Discovery and the city of Cape Town. The CTICC site has the capacity to administer up to 4,000 shots a day. Another mass vaccination site is being planned for Athlone sports stadium.
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