JSE- and NYSE-listed Sibanye-Stillwater has inoculated an initial 779 employees with the Covid-19 vaccine in line with the government’s roll-out strategy in South Africa.
Sibanye received 780 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine on June 24 and inoculated the employees over a three-day period starting June 25.
This follows the group’s accreditation by the Department of Health on June 23 to administer Covid-19 vaccines at four medical facilities at its South African gold and platinum group metal operations.
Sibanye has a workforce of about 82 000 people in South Africa and can optimally use the capacity at its medical centres to administer 18 000 vaccines a day and can, therefore, make a significant contribution to the national vaccine roll-out, not only to employees, but also to their families and doorstep communities if allocated sufficient vaccines.
“We recognise the urgency of vaccinating our employees, their families and nearby communities to restrict and contain the threat of Covid-19 in South Africa, and it was extremely pleasing to see how the team pulled together on short notice, to successfully and efficiently administer this initial allocation of Covid-19 vaccines to our prioritised employees,” CEO Neal Froneman comments.
He adds that this initial inoculation process is “a testament to preparations and protocols put in place some time ago by the team, with adequate refrigeration acquired and health care employees trained and registered well ahead of accreditation”.