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Minister of Health, Dr. Zweli Mkhize.
- South Africa has secured sufficient doses to vaccinate all those in need, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.
- It remained sparse on details.
- AstraZaneca doses already purchased will be provided to the African Union platform.
South Africa “actually got enough doses to vaccinate all the people who will need to be vaccinated,” Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told a joint session of parliament on Tuesday.
But it has not yet been announced how many doses have been obtained, from whom, when it will arrive and how it will be implemented.
On Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa overlooked the government’s implementation plan for vaccines in his State of the Nation Address (SONA). Speaking early in the SONA debate, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize continued to hold government cards close to his chest.
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“As a government, we are actively involving manufacturers and suppliers of Covid-19 vaccines through different but interrelated channels. These include the installation of Covax, bilateral agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers and other mechanisms such as the Vaccine Financing Strategy of the African Union and Vaccine Procurement Task Force.
“These initiatives to date have allowed us to collaborate with the manufacturers of multiple vaccines, namely AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Sinopharm, Sinovac and Sputnik V.
“Recently, we have been in talks with Cuba to involve them in the development of their candidate vaccine.”
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He said the government has heard the “wake-up call” from South Africans to develop and manufacture our own Covid-19 tools, including vaccines.
“It is for this reason that we have been involving our partners Brics and the government of Cuba to collaborate in a technology exchange exercise that will see us advance towards independence and self-sufficiency in a future where there will be more threats to public health,” added. Mkhize said.
Mkhize said the recent debacle with the AstraZeneca vaccine “was certainly disappointing.”
“However, we were determined not to deviate from our commitment to launch vaccines in February.”
“The doses of AstraZeneca that we buy have been offered to the African Union platform, of which we are a part, and the AU will distribute to those countries that have already expressed interest in acquiring the shares. So please be assured that there will be no waste and fruitless expenses, “said Mkhize.
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He referred to Ramaphosa’s announcement that nine million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine had been obtained, and that the first batch of 80,000 will be delivered this week.
“His Excellency the President will announce the date and time of the first vaccinations,” Mkhize said.
He said an additional 500,000 doses are expected to arrive over the next four weeks, supplemented by another 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine expected to be received by the end of March 2021.
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“I can also say that we have actually gotten enough doses to vaccinate all the people who will need to be vaccinated in South Africa.”
“I would like to take the opportunity to resolve the issue of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine launch because we must understand that our sole purpose is to save lives and protect our healthcare workers.”
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He said it is indisputable that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is 57% effective against the 501Y.V2 variant and fully protects against serious illness or death.
“On this basis, Johnson & Johnson is requesting an emergency use authorization and it is expected that it will be granted,” it said.
“With this evidence in hand, we will begin by vaccinating our healthcare workers with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.”
Mkhize praised the Medical Research Council, led by Professor Glenda Gray, National Department of Health officials led by CEO Dr. Sandile Buthelezi, and Johnson & Johnson for “essentially doing a miracle to ensure that our plans do not go off the rails.” .
Mkhize said that nearly 380,000 health workers had signed up for vaccinations.
The time allotted for his speech ran out, but the copy of his speech distributed to the media contained the following information: 20 vaccination centers have been identified in the nine provinces to inoculate 80,000 health workers during the next two weeks. 164 vaccinators will vaccinate approximately 48 people a day, that is, six to seven per hour.
