President Cyril Ramaphosa receives COVID-19 vaccine
CIDRI-Africa Principal Investigator Prof. Graeme Meintjes was present when the first healthcare workers, President Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize received COVID-19 vaccinations at Khayelitsha District Hospital.
The Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa fosters investigator-led approaches via the overarching scientific objective of combatting infection, especially HIV-1 and tuberculosis, through clinical and laboratory research.
South Africa’s vaccination drive began on Wednesday, 17 February 2021, at the Khayelitsha Hospital, with President Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize and various frontline healthcare workers among the first to receive the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine.
The workshop covered: an introduction to vaccines, the difference between vaccination and immunisation, SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development and research, and myths about vaccines.
Keertan is Head of the Division of Pulmonology in the Faculty of Health Sciences and leads the Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, which is a UCT accredited centre with its clinical profiling facilities based at the University of Cape Town Lung Institute. He joins the Centre as a Contributing Investigator.