Impala Rustenburg activated its first mobile vaccination site in Rustenburg’s Freedom Park community on 9 September, marking the start of a campaign to host vaccination days in other areas of the mining community.
The fully operational, mobile vaccination site is a successful collaboration between the North West Department of Health, the Department of Home Affairs, local NGOs, ward councillors, and Impala.
To recognise the value of this initiative to South Africa’s efforts to ensure widespread vaccination, the mobile Impala facility, which was located within the Bojanala outreach area for the day, was visited by several dignitaries. These included Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy; Thandi Modise, Minister of Defence; other VIP guests and government officials, as well as local MECs and councillors. They all expressed their appreciation for the productive and collaborative partnership, and thanked Impala for ensuring that the Covid-19 vaccine is being delivered into the local community where it is desperately needed.
The Impala mobile facility was one of four vaccination points in Bojanala on the day, and it achieved the highest number of vaccines administered among the district stations.
Dr Jon Andrews, Implats’ Group Executive for Health and Safety said, “A fourth wave of Covid-19 is imminent and it’s more critical now than ever for everyone to be vaccinated to protect themselves and their families. People who have been vaccinated will have far greater protection against the virus for themselves and are also far less likely to spread the virus than those who have not been vaccinated.”
Dr Andrews added, “Impala has been working closely with the North West Department of Health to assist their vaccine rollout since the beginning, and we were the first accredited mining site to start vaccinations in May 2021. Since then, Impala has administered more than 30 000 vaccines to Impala employees and contractors, and a further 11 000 vaccines to people within the mining communities. The mobile vaccination site is an additional initiative by Impala to ensure access to the vaccine, for the health and safety of the community as a whole.”
Mark Munroe, Chief Executive at Impala Rustenburg is proud of the Company’s ongoing campaigns to fight Covid-19. “Vaccinating the most vulnerable at our Impala Hospital and clinics, and helping to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating people in the community via our mobile clinics and mobile vaccination stations is another important way we can make a difference. The Impala mobile vaccination site will be set up in other communities within the next few weeks. We will keep our communities updated on when and where these mobile sites will be, through the local ward councillors who have been highly proactive in ensuring the message is widely shared in their areas.”
Munroe said, “We know that we can only win this fight if we work together, and we need to ensure that we go above and beyond what is required to assist our employees and the people in mining communities as best we can.”
