ワクチン列車があなたの元へ　南ア、接種率アップに向け新取り組み

【スプリングスＡＦＰ＝時事】南アフリカで、さびれた鉄道駅が新型コロナウイルスワクチンの接種会場に生まれ変わった。白く輝く列車で遠隔地にワクチンを届け、低迷する接種率を押し上げようという、ありそうでなかった取り組みだ。（写真は南アフリカ・スプリングス駅に停車した新型コロナウイルスワクチン接種専用列車「トランスバコ」と、ホームの椅子に座って順番を待つ間、医療従事者に質問する男性）
　ヨハネスブルクの約５０キロ東方にあるスプリングス駅のホームに、プラスチック製の椅子が一定の間隔を保って並べられている。人々はこの椅子に座って順番を待ち、一人ずつ呼ばれては列車に乗り込んでいく。
　ワクチン接種のための特別仕様の列車「トランスバコ」は、鉄道貨物輸送を担う公社トランスネットの出資で運用されている。改装された車両の中には接種用の個室が並び、１日当たり６００人にワクチンを接種できる。
　列車は全９両で、接種用の他８両がスタッフの宿泊や食事のためのスペース、倉庫、発電設備などに使われている。
　ワクチン列車はスプリングス駅に２週間停車して接種を行った後、９月から３か月間にわたって貧困層の多い東ケープ州を回る計画だ。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/08/31-11:08）

A rundown South African railway station has been converted into an unlikely vaccination site where a shiny white train brings jabs to remote areas and boost sluggish uptake.
One by one, people waiting in plastic chairs spaced out across a platform in the town of Springs, 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Johannesburg, were called to board a vaccine centre on rails -- the Transvaco.
We want to try and vaccinate as many people as possible in a short space of time... (and) bring vaccines closer to rural areas, the train's manager, Paballo Mokwana, told AFP on Wednesday.
Funded by state logistics firm Transnet, the train has the capacity to jab 600 people per day in a specially-refurbished carriage lined with vaccination cubicles.
Its eight other carriages are used for accommodation, storage, staff dining, electricity generation and other essentials.
After a two-week stint in Springs, the train will set off next month for a three-month swing through impoverished Eastern Cape province.
But less than 100 people have showed up per day since the Transvaco opened its doors on Monday.
The low turnout is largely blamed on lack of awareness and vaccine hesitancy hindering inoculation in Africa's worst virus-hit country.
Uptake, slightly boosted since the eligible age was lowered from 34 to 18 last week, has remained generally low.
I'm still too scared, admitted train station worker Zacharia Matuludi, 28, spraying incomers with hand sanitiser.
The chemicals... I don't know how my body will respond to them.
Sitting in a makeshift post-vaccine observation area on the other side of the platform, 40-year-old Olive Selati said she had delayed the process after hearing a lot of stories.
In the background, a health worker briefed a small group of people about vaccine types, precautions and possible side-effects.
A recurring concern is whether the jab could impact anti-retroviral drugs used to treat HIV, of which South Africa has the world's highest prevalence.
Between shots, health workers said the government should do more to promote the vaccine and dispel myths.
They also noted that young people were easily put off by needles -- which seem huge on television -- and advice not to drink alcohol after the jab.
Turnout is always lower on Fridays... because it's the weekend, they want to go and enjoy themselves, said vaccinator Bongani Nxumalo.
Mokwana was confident the train would be more successful once the word spread, particularly in areas with poor health coverage.
Just over 8.4 million people have been fully vaccinated in South Africa out of more than 59 million inhabitants.
sch/ri