Don’t hesitate – vaccinate

What’s in the M&G this week [View this email in your browser]( May 14, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, Once we start we cannot afford to slow down. Although we are technically not in a third wave of the pandemic we appear to be hurtling towards it. What’s causing the glacial pace in vaccinations? Find out in this week’s M&G, available in print and online. The most [ambitious vaccination roll-out ever undertaken in South Africa begins on Monday]( 17 May, in the face of an imminent but indeterminate Covid-19 third wave — with just 1% of the entire target population currently vaccinated. At the current jab rate of about 12 000 health workers a day, the trailblazing Sisonke study will overlap with Monday’s vital phase two launch to the 5.5-million people over the age of 60 by a week. Chris Bateman looks into what’s behind the delays and what the next crucial few months might look like. The 330 000 Pfizer doses now landing weekly at OR Tambo International Airport and consignments nearly doubling to 630 000 a week by the end of June, proper cold chain management will be crucial for the vaccine roll-out. According to the Mail & Guardian’s sources in the Covid-19 vaccine cold chain management programme, most provincial hospitals and depots have adequate cold chain storage capacity, [but most district clinics do not](. This means skilful logistics management will be required for supply management between hospitals, depots and vaccination clinics, especially in rural areas, where clinics have refrigeration capacity of just 2°C to 8°C. Ace Magashule has [filed papers in the high court in Johannesburg on an urgent basis]( asking that it strike down the ANC’s step-aside rule as unlawful, along with his suspension as the secretary general of the ruling party, and warning that the crisis in the party could shake the country. Emsie Ferreira reports that he is also asking that the letter of suspension he served on President Cyril Ramaphosa on May 5 be declared “valid and effective until lawfully nullified”. Third, he is seeking a declaration that the instruction issued by Ramaphosa and ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte, that he apologise for sending the letter to the president, be declared unlawful and unenforceable. She’s worked on one of the biggest class-action cases in South Africa and she’s taken on Uber — Zanele Mbuyisa speaks to Athandiwe Saba about advocating for the underrepresented, [getting “old” and transformation in the law fraternity](. It was about 3pm on Thursday, 29 April, when Avethandwa Nokhangela’s mother got a call from an Equal Education (EE) official telling her that her daughter had drowned, Bongekile Macupe reports. Yet it took [four hours for the delegation to arrive]( at Avethandwa’s home to tell the family the full story of what had happened to their child, according to her aunt, Zanele Goda. Lloyd Gedye looks into how 12% of those who received the National Arts Council of South Africa grant funding were collectively paid more than R128-million, which equates to 46% of the funding. In contrast the remaining 1 142 recipients [divided R150-million among themselves](. Standard Bank has issued a formal response to shareholders, [declining to table a resolution on climate change]( ahead of the bank’s annual general meeting on 27 May, Tunisia Philips reports. Two environmental justice organisations [have hauled the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment to the high court in Pretoria]( in landmark litigation challenging the environmental authorisation for Eskom’s gas-to-power plant in Richards Bay. Sheree Bega reports that groundWork and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance argue that building the 3 000 megawatt combined cycle power plant commits South Africa to a “regressive, climate harming future”. Khaya Sithole writes about United States President Joe Biden’s pledge to boost the Covid waiver drive. The move — a commitment to sharing technology and fair provision of the vaccines — [represents a rare instance of a political campaign promise translating to action](. But Big Pharma and the World Trade Organisation haven’t shifted on sharing vaccine intellectual property. The recent 2021 Toyota South African Sports Association for the Physically Disabled National Championships in Gqeberha is a testament that parasport is on the rise and thriving as athletes produced record-breaking performances. The championships produced [a new crop of emerging parasport stars]( who are rapidly becoming household names, writes Celine Abrahams. That’s us for another week. If you’re enjoying this newsletter please do us a solid and forward it to a buddy. And, of course, the best way you can support us is by taking out an M&G subscription for yourself. Until Tuesday, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Subscribe now]( Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences or unsubscribe here.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Mail & Guardian Media LTD · 25 Owl St · Braamfontein · Johannesburg, Gauteng 2001 · South Africa