The mobile health teams are part of a broader country strategy to contain the spread of COVID-19. In addition to vaccination, the groups also provide other services such as HIV testing, TB screening, cervical cancer screening, minor ailments and nutrition advice. “Limpopo province has administered more than 3.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and we have covered up to 54% of the adult population with at least one dose of the vaccine,” says Dr Tumiso Malatji, head of COVID-19 in Limpopo . Provincial Ministry of Health. Everyone has rolled up their sleeves, including community leaders, partners and the province’s top leadership. Masegare Isack Shai is a community leader in The Willows town in Mopani district. As he is 60 years old, he was one of the first to be vaccinated. “We set the example and told people we’re vaccinated — you can’t die, you can’t get hurt,” he says of himself and his fellow community leaders. Everyone agrees that leadership has come from the top. Dr Phophi Ramathuba, MEC for Health in Limpopo Province, has been at the coalface, administering vaccines and building trust and confidence in the vaccine. “I have to provide political leadership. And the political leadership must speak,” he says.
