10% of citizens will access the COVID-19 vaccine at the beginning of next year

JOHANNESBURG – President Cyril Ramaphosa said that 10% of South Africa’s population would have access to a COVID-19 vaccine early next year.

In his address to the nation on Monday night, the president said that South Africa had completed all necessary processes to ensure its participation in the World Health Organization’s global access facility for the COVID-19 vaccine.

This is due to concerns that the poorest countries will be left behind in the attempt to obtain vaccines.

Ramaphosa said South Africa was part of both the WHO’s Covax facility and the African procurement task force, with the latter seeking to unlock alternative funding for additional vaccines for the continent.

He said that Health Minister Zweli Mkhize was part of the team looking for different financial mechanisms.

“And it also looks for innovative partnerships with the private sector to ensure that South Africans have access to an effective vaccine that is tailored to our conditions.”

But until then, the president has emphasized the need to follow COVID-19 protocols.

Ramaphosa also used his address to pay tribute to healthcare workers, adding that more than 300 had died and thousands more contracted the virus.

“As a nation, we owe a lot to these brave and dedicated people and their families, because without them, we would not have come this far.

To date, more than 38,000 public sector healthcare workers have tested positive for coronavirus. Of these, almost 5,000 were admitted to the hospital.
Sadly, 391 public sector health workers have died.
The president has urged South Africans to forgo fleeting pleasures to protect themselves and their loved ones.

A FESTIVE SEASON DURING

It also heralded a gloomy holiday season for South Africans with beach closures, the return of the 11pm curfew and restricted sales of alcohol.

Ramaphosa said that all beaches in the Eastern Cape would be closed between December 16 and January 3, while in KwaZulu-Natal they would be closed on some days of the holiday.

In the Western Cape, only the Garden Route beaches, which is a COVID-19 hotspot, will be closed.

READ MORE: Ramaphosa announces that it will not sell alcohol from Friday to Sunday

This as the country battles a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic with a faster transmission rate.

Ramaphosa said the next few weeks will be a great test of South Africa’s determination and resolve.

It has adjusted the COVID-19 protocols with some changes to be made immediately.

Ramaphosa, in his stern warnings, called on the nation to do things differently: “If we do not do things differently this holiday season, we will greet the new year not with joy but with sadness.”

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa’s Full Speech on COVID-19 Restrictions in the Holiday Season

He also used the recent Rage matric event to illustrate the danger of super spreader meetings.

“It is sad that up to 300 families could, in turn, have been infected. Just from this event. “

The president said the measures, which include stricter enforcement of level one restrictions, would be reviewed in January.

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