[ad_1]
The health minister said the government was still in talks with pharmaceutical companies and that no agreements had been signed yet.
FILE: The Minister of Health, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, during a walk at the Dora Ngiza Hospital in Port Elizabeth on July 23, 2020. Image: @ DrZweliMkhize / Twitter
JOHANNESBURG – Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the government was aiming to get COVID-19 vaccines by February, but was still in talks with pharmaceutical companies and no deals had been signed yet.
On Sunday night, Mkhize and a panel of experts briefed the nation on how South Africa would release the vaccine to the public.
“We are trying to make available as many vaccines as possible with a goal of February, although all this will depend a lot on the success of the current bilateral negotiations that we are having with various companies,” said the minister. .
There has been growing criticism of the government’s response, and South Africans are watching many other countries implement mass immunization programs.
South Africa is fighting a resurgence of coronavirus infections driven in part by a new strain.
READ: SA Scientists Identify COVID-19 Variant, Announces Mkhize
It has registered more than 1.1 million infections, the majority on the African continent, and more than 29,000 deaths.
The Health Department confirmed overnight that 402 more people died in this country after contracting the virus, and almost 12,000 new infections were detected during the last 24 hours.
Africa’s most industrialized nation is participating in the Covax vaccine distribution initiative co-led by the World Health Organization, but the scheme could only cover 10% of its population of roughly 60 million people and the first doses may only arrive in the second quarter of the year. year.
That has caused anxiety among some scientists and academics, who have urged the government to quickly reach agreements with pharmaceutical companies as other countries have already started vaccinating.
Mkhize said officials were doing their best to obtain vaccines before doses of Covax were available.
“Therefore, to raise these funds we have embarked on an additional public-private partnership that is already showing us very good results right now. We have already approached medical aid to co-finance it with the government, ”Mkhize said.
The minister said that the ultimate goal was to vaccinate at least 67% of the population to achieve herd immunity.
READ: Mkhize: Government will target 67% of South Africans in launching COVID vaccine
He said the approach would be to target first-line healthcare workers in the first phase of vaccination, followed by a second phase that includes essential workers, people in congregated settings, people over 60 and people over 18 with comorbidities. .
A third phase of the launch would be aimed at other people over 18 years of age.
“These vaccines should be available, I would say, to most people. We need to be able to implement them by the end of 2021. “
WATCH: Zweli Mkhize on SA’s COVID-19 Vaccine Launch Plans
Download the EWN app on your iOS or Android device.
[ad_2]
