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President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- The ANC-led alliance will hold an urgent meeting on Wednesday to discuss the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine.
- This occurs when the SACP asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to show leadership in the deployment and prioritize coordination through his office to avoid corruption and competition.
- The meeting will be held on the same day as the meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council.
The ANC-led alliance’s political council will meet on Wednesday, the same day that President Cyril Ramaphosa called a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC).
South African Communist Party (SACP) Undersecretary Solly Mapaila told the media that launching and purchasing the vaccine will be discussed at the meeting.
“We want [the] that the vaccine is available to people and [for the] Public good. We want this vaccine to be implemented and we should make every effort in South Africa to acquire the vaccine, “he said, adding that South Africa needed to interact with countries that had already developed the vaccine, such as trading partners China, Russia and Cuba.
READ | Ramaphosa Convenes Urgent National Coronavirus Command Council Meeting As Death Toll Rises
The alliance meeting comes after the ruling party’s largest partner, Cosatu, accused Health Minister Zweli Mkhize of taking a nap in the face of the deadly pandemic and questioning the proposed Covid-19 vaccine implementation strategy. by the government.
The SACP said Ramaphosa should “show leadership” in launching the vaccine and prioritize coordination through his office to combat potential corruption and competition.
Group immunity
Mkhize informed the nation on Sunday, announcing that at least 67% of the South African population would need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to ensure herd immunity.
The vaccine was expected to be implemented in three phases, and the country’s 1.25 million health workers would have first access.
In the second phase, the vaccine would be offered to essential workers and those who live in congregation spaces, such as care centers and prisons.
Those classified as essential workers include miners, teachers, and police. The second phase, which would require approximately 16 million doses, would also include people 60 years of age and older, as well as people with comorbidities.
In the third phase, the vaccine would be available to another 40 million people.
With the death toll from Covid-19 in South Africa topping the 30,000 mark on Monday, the NCCC meeting was expected to be dominated by talks about the vaccine.
READ MORE | Mkhize ‘caught sleeping in the face of deadly pandemic’, says Cosatu of vaccine launch
“South Africa’s own participation in the Covid-19 program with the World Health Organization (WHO) is important because it is also based on our own scientists.
“We will urge our government, even through this process tonight, to explore the capacity that we have through our own state institutions, our own vaccine production within the public sector to expand that sector, to finance that sector because we live in an age of viruses. The state’s ability to respond becomes vital in that regard, “Mapaila said.
During the virtual commemoration of former stalwart Joe Slovo, the party also pledged to play its role in creating a broad left-wing global campaign for the equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
SACP Secretary General Blade Nzimande said the campaign must seek to challenge the dominant profit logic pushed by big pharmaceutical companies.
“We want to welcome WHO’s stance to make the Covid-19 vaccine a global public good, rather than a for-profit imperative. In our country, the government must ensure that the production and supply of the Covid-19 vaccine are not subordinate to the private interests of wealth accumulation. There should be no room for corruption and state capture, old or new, in the supply of the Covid-19 vaccine, as in all government programs, departments and public entities, “added Nzimande.
