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South Africa is lagging behind other countries in the race to secure a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines.
This is according to Relationship, which said the government has not started negotiating with manufacturers that are conducting vaccine trials in the country.
The fact that four of the 10 pioneering vaccines are being tested in South Africa does not offer a guaranteed preference when it comes to vaccine availability, Rapport said.
Vaccines currently being tested in the country include one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which the companies this week he claimed be more than 90% effective.
Countries around the world are struggling to acquire vaccines, even before their use is approved, a study the Duke Global Health Innovation Center has stated.
According to the center, more than 9 billion doses of COVID-19 candidate vaccines have already been secured between the US, Canada, and several European countries.
He said individual countries request as many candidate vaccines as possible to increase the likelihood of covering their populations.
Botswana ahead of South Africa
Rapport noted that South Africa’s neighbors Namibia and Botswana are already part of an international vaccine initiative, while the latter has even made its first payment to WHO’s Covax initiative, which brings together more than 10 vaccines currently in development.
The country’s deputy minister told Reuters that this purchase will provide vaccines to 450,000 Botswana citizens.
Meanwhile, the South African Department of Health said it would soon make an announcement regarding the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines for the country.
According to Reuters calculations, it would have to spend R2 billion to secure vaccines for only 10% of the South African population.
Interventions to prevent the second wave
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently addressed the nation on the status of the country’s response to COVID-19 as he tries to prevent a second wave of infections.
Ramaphosa announced that certain level 1 lockdown restrictions would be relaxed to allow for a better economic recovery, which included lifting limits on business hours for retail outlets that sell alcohol, in addition to international travel measures.
However, existing restrictions on public gatherings and capacity limits for public places will be maintained.
In addition, the president outlined certain interventions to stop the spread of the virus in resurgence points like the Eastern Cape.
“In response to the increase in infections, we are implementing a resurgence plan that has been developed together with the research team that WHO has deployed in our country,” he said.
These include:
- Primary health care outreach teams to improve contact tracing.
- Daily community mobilization.
- Ensure the availability of health facilities.
- Prepare to respond to cluster sprouts.
Community screening and testing will also be expanded in critical areas to reduce the possibility of a second wave.
Ramaphosa also warned South Africans to be careful about broadcasting during the holiday season.
“The second area of concern is the upcoming holiday season, during which many South Africans travel to other parts of the country and people tend to relax and socialize,” he said.
“These activities, if not carried out responsibly, pose the greatest immediate threat to our management of the pandemic.”
Now Read: South Africa’s COVID-19 Tracing Has Failed – Professor Madhi
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