Dr Rirhandzu Norah Mongwe is on the frontlines of Limpopo Province’s COVID-19 vaccination response. She has spent 35 years in public health, starting out as a nurse at a public hospital and rising to become Chief Executive Officer of Mankweng Tertiary and Academic hospital, and finally taking up the position of District Executive Manager for Mopani District in the province in 2016, responsible for health service delivery in the district.

Mopani District is at the heart of Limpopo’s farmlands, responsible for much of South Africa’s agricultural exports – avocadoes, tomatoes, citrus fruit, and even timber.

Dr Mongwe knew straight away that strategic planning was paramount to the successful rollout COVID-19 vaccines in Mopani. “We planned properly, based on our resources and the population that we have,” she says.

During the first months of COVID-19 vaccination, Dr Mongwe was on the ground every day, along with her teams of dedicated vaccinators, visiting churches, malls, and farms.

“Based on the population and unemployment rate in Mopani District, most people are working on farms and uninsured. If they are uninsured, they can’t afford to take time off from work or to get transport to clinics. That’s when we said we need to go to them and vaccinate them.”

The district team worked with the farmers to set up mobile vaccination sites on the farms, while the liaison officers conducted vigorous community mobilization.

“Using the strategy of reaching people where they are, we were vaccinating more than 1000 people a day in each of the five sub-districts of Mopani”, she says. “Our strategy is a serious success story.” Over 56% of Mopani’s population has received their primary vaccination series, including 77% of its residents over the age of 60.

“After vaccination we analyzed the data and found that our hospital admissions and deaths decreased,” she adds.

Support from partners has been critical for this planning, says Dr Mongwe. “The clear guidelines that were developed by the World Health Organization helped us to implement the right strategies and reduce the spread of COVID-19,” she adds.

With many thanks to Dr Mongwe for sharing her story.