Impala Platinum : Rustenburg vaccinates 4 000 and rising in government Covid-19 vaccine rollout programme

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Impala Rustenburg vaccinates 4 000 and rising in government

Covid-19 vaccine rollout programme

Rustenburg, 7 July 2021 - Impala Rustenburg has completed the first dose vaccination of more than 1 000 employees who are over 60 years of age and the first 800 of its employees who fall into the next 50 to 59 year age category as part of the government's Covid-19 vaccination rollout. Impala Rustenburg also vaccinated more than 820 of its healthcare workers in the first vaccination phase. Mark Munroe, Chief Executive of Impala Rustenburg, comments, "The total number of people vaccinated at Impala Rustenburg now exceeds 4 000 and the vaccination programme is rapidly gaining momentum."

Dr Jon Andrews, Implats' Group Executive for Health and Safety Executive, who has led the Group's medical response to the pandemic, says "We are proud and privileged to have been able to assist the North West Department of Health with their vaccination programme since the start of the government rollout. Our nurses assisted with vaccinations at the Department of Health sites and we provided additional administrative and logistical support. We were then very fortunate to be selected as the first pilot site for the occupational health arm of the government's vaccine rollout in the mining sector. We were registered, accredited and able to start vaccinating employees on 24 May."

The Impala Rustenburg Covid-19 vaccination site is now open for people aged 50 and above, who have received their SMS to get vaccinated at Impala.

"We are calling on all members of the Rustenburg and Greater Bojanala community to register and get vaccinated against Covid-19. The latest evidence emerging about the new Delta variant of the virus shows that after the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, a 94% protection is achieved against hospitalisation and serious illness. Given the highly infectious nature of the new Delta variant, it is therefore more important than ever to be vaccinated," says Dr Andrews.

Dr Andrews says that the vaccine allows your body to build immunity and resistance against the virus and protects you against future coronavirus infections. "Further, the more people who are vaccinated and follow all preventative measures, the closer we will be to achieving community immunity and protection against the Covid-19 infection. It's important to realise that the vaccine does not give you the virus or the infection. Rather, the vaccine teaches your immune system to recognise and fight the virus and any future infections from the virus. Just as with smallpox, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, measles, tetanus, whooping cough and

pneumococcal vaccines, Covid-19 vaccines will greatly reduce the morbidity and mortality of this virus."

Commenting on Impala Rustenburg's role in the government's vaccine programme rollout, Mark Munroe says that the Company considers it a moral and civic duty to do everything in its power to assist in vaccinating as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. "We have the occupational health and safety facilities and resources at our disposal to help the Department of Health ensure South Africa achieves its vaccination rollout objectives."

Dr Thuthula Balfour, Head of Health, Minerals Council South Africa, says, "South African mining companies have the ability to add meaningful capacity to the national vaccination effort, just as they did with testing. Through the support of the Minerals Council and the collaboration of mining companies, significant success has been achieved. The industry has worked very closely with the National Department of Health and B4SA in setting up an extensive network of occupational health vaccination facilities and many will come on stream in the coming weeks. In this national mission to achieve community immunity, there is no competition."

For more information about registering for the vaccination, go to https://sacoronavirus.co.za/vaccine-updates/.

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For more information, please contact:

Aimee de Bruyn

E-mail: [e-mail]

1. 014 569 6581

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