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One million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been shipped from Mumbai and are on their way to Johannesburg.
FILE: The University of Oxford and drugmaker AstraZeneca have developed a COVID-19 vaccine. Image: AFP.
JOHANNESBURG – The first shipment of 1 million AstraZeneca vaccines left Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Sunday.
The flight carrying the precious cargo will pass through Dubai and land at OR Tambo International Airport on Monday.
The first implementation will primarily prioritize healthcare workers.
Another half a million doses are expected in February.
# COVID-19 | The first shipment of 1 million doses of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India’s Oxford University-AstraZeneca left today from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai en route to OR Tambo International Airport, Ekurhuleni 🇿🇦
We choose #Vaccination pic.twitter.com/YxPakQxg5b
– ATHI GELEBA 🇿🇦 (thiAthiGeleba) January 31, 2021
#CoronavirusUpdate | The first shipment of 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII) Oxford University left Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on January 31, 2021.# COVID-19 #SAIndiaRelations #Vaccine for COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/0qnLP4200n
– DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) January 31, 2021
The event was also attended by Mr Sudeep Narayan, Director India-Airfreight, EFL, Mr Subhash P Dixit, Senior Manager, EFL, Mr SD Prabhu Cargo Manager Maharashtra & Goa, Emirates and Mr Patrick Mascarenhas, CSM, Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia, Emirates. pic.twitter.com/TJNnGtoEnM
– DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) January 31, 2021
Meanwhile, the mining industry has pledged its support for the vaccine procurement and implementation plan as the country battles a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
The industry said Saturday it had the capacity to vaccinate its workforce of around 450,000.
Charmane Russel, Council of Minerals, said: “As an industry, we have offered our support to the government in the distribution of vaccines to mining employees and communities. The mining companies have an important infrastructure and medical care capacity that will allow us to promote the vaccination process ”.
The council said it could vaccinate about 60,000 people a day.
The country is about to embark on its largest vaccine campaign with plans to inoculate more than 40 million people this year.
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