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By Baldwin Ndaba 
9h ago
The district attorney has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to accelerate bilateral negotiations with approved providers of the Covid-19 vaccine to deliver doses well before the second quarter of July.
The district attorney’s call came as Ramaphosa already announced that the vaccine will only be available in July, saying that the Solidarity Fund had already made an advance payment of more than R283 million for the acquisition of the vaccine.
DA leader John Steenhuisen, the time has come for the South African government to put people first and urgently secure a bilateral agreement to accelerate the arrival of the vaccine to our shores.
“Waiting for the second quarter of next year is not enough, and even then, the number of initial vaccines being offered will only cover 10% of the population.
“Other nations have been able to do this. Why can not we? The nation of Colombia, a country with socioeconomic circumstances almost identical to those of South Africa, has managed to immediately obtain a Covid-19 vaccine and has obtained 9 million doses, ”said Steenhuisen.
In detailing his party’s six-point plan to acquire the vaccine, Steenhuisen stated: n That the government urgently begins bilateral negotiations, as many other countries have, with approved vaccine suppliers to gain rapid access to a vaccine for South Africans.
If only to ensure enough, at this stage, for frontline health workers, frontline teachers and first responders, and the most vulnerable members of society, including older people. Actions taken in this regard should be shared with the National Assembly to ensure sufficient oversight and accountability;
That the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority can complete the required vaccine approval as efficiently as possible;
That government determines, in detail, how many doses of the vaccine are necessary to inoculate the entire population and make the financial provisions necessary for this acquisition. According to our estimates, at $ 10.22 per vaccine, it would cost R9.5 billion to cover 50% of the population. Therefore, the National Treasury must urgently reallocate approximately 20 billion rand to ensure that the entire nation can be vaccinated against Covid-19;
That the government provide a defined schedule regarding COVAX’s participation, the date the vaccines will be here, how many doses will arrive and how they will be assigned;
That the government begin this week to develop a deployment strategy to, as quickly as possible, administer the vaccine to citizens who require it, and identify what facilities will be used to store and administer the vaccine; and
Make sure syringes, needles, swabs, coolers, and other associated ancillary requirements are procured for vaccine administration. This must be done with transparency and accountability to prevent the government from urgently starting bilateral negotiations, as many other countries have done, with approved vaccine providers in order to gain rapid access to a vaccine for South Africans. If only to ensure enough, at this stage, for front-line healthcare workers, front-line teachers and first responders, and the most vulnerable members of society, including older people. The measures taken in this regard should be shared with the National Assembly to ensure sufficient oversight and accountability; end the corruption witnessed in EPI’s first round of acquisitions.
Political Bureau
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