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- South Africa should prepare for a second wave of Covid-19 without a vaccine, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize warned.
- This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Solidarity Fund would contribute more than R300 million to participate in a vaccine access initiative.
- However, it could be months before South Africans have access to the vaccine, Mhkize warned.
An increase in Covid-19 infections in the Eastern Cape could lead South Africa into a second wave of the global pandemic, and it is unlikely that any vaccine will be available in time to reduce its effects, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize warned. .
During a visit to Garden Route to assess the measures in place to handle an increase in Covid-19 cases, Mkhize said that cluster outbreaks, as seen in Garden Route and the Eastern Cape, could become “a big problem” if they don’t are contained.
Some Garden Route municipalities have canceled large public events. All events at George have been canceled and venues are not available for events. The municipality of Kannaland has done the same and has closed all the facilities, including the municipalities.
READ | Covid-19: second wave ‘exceeding first peak’ on Garden Route
The outbreaks have taken authorities “by surprise,” due to the rapid increase in cases in just a few weeks, Mkhize said.
However, Mkhize has warned that if cases continue to rise, South Africa is likely to face a second wave without a vaccine.
Exit
“We are all aware that the issue of the vaccine is the only way out, but it is not around the corner. It will take us a couple of months,” Mkhize said.
On Thursday, President Ramaphosa said that the Solidarity Fund would contribute the R327 million needed for COVAX, a global initiative for access to the Covid-19 vaccine administered by the Global Vaccine Alliance, GAVI and the World Health Organization. He said that the participation was to pool resources and guarantee equitable access to the vaccine.
READ | Winde believes that the level 1 lockdown is sufficient, but wants to clamp down on the use of the mask.
The announcement came after a News24 report that the country missed the initial payment deadline to secure its participation. South Africa was supposed to have made the initial payment before October 9.
However, South Africa is unlikely to see any vaccines before the country experiences a second wave, Mhkize said.
“There is a very unusual situation, where the vaccine development process has been so fast that some of the scientific questions are still being asked, and at the same time, we feel that vaccines need to be implemented,” he said.
“As fast as it is, it’s not good enough for us [focus on a vaccine] now. Let’s fight this wave and then later on, we will face the availability of the vaccine. We will get to a point where we will get our vaccines, but in the meantime, we have to survive this wave. “
