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By Viasen Soobramoney 
2h ago
Cape Town: South Africans will not be able to import Covid-19 vaccines in their personal capacity, even if they have the means to do so. This is according to Dr. Anban Pillay from the Ministry of Health.
Pillay was responding to a question posed during the department’s vaccine implementation strategy briefing on Sunday.
“As a country, we will buy shares for the whole country. I don’t think people can import the vaccine. This is based on our discussions with the manufacturers. They have indicated to us that they will only deal with governments, given the scale and logistics associated with the virus, ”said Pillay.
He added that the manufacturers had indicated that they are not considering “small batch” orders for the vaccine.
At the beginning of the briefing, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said they were aiming to vaccinate 67% of South Africans against Covid-19 to achieve herd immunity. This equates to just over 40 million people.
“We knew from the beginning that the only way to fight Covid-19 would be to achieve herd immunity through vaccination,” Mkhize said.
The groups that will have access to the vaccine first are the following:
* Health workers: health professionals, nurses, general health workers, home workers, selected laboratory workers and traditional healers.
* People with comorbidities and at risk of morbidity and mortality: They include people aged 60 years and over, people living with HIV, tuberculosis, diabetics, chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, obesity, etc.
* People in crowded or overcrowded settings: This group includes people in prisons, detention centers, shelters, and nursing homes. In addition, people who work in the hotel and tourism industry, and educational institutions are also at risk.
* Essential Workers: This group includes police, miners, and security, food retail, funeral, travel, banking, and municipal and internal affairs essential services workers.
Mkhize said implementation seemed set to start early in the second quarter, but they were in talks to try to get the vaccine here faster, “‘maybe by February.”
“We are very aware of the urgency. We all have personal anxiety. We want to know when we can say that we are safe from this pandemic. We are in bilateral talks to see how we can get the vaccine here faster, maybe in February, ”Mkhize said Sunday.
He said talks have been held regarding the vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
There have also been talks about vaccines from Russia and China.
South Africa is one of around 200 countries that have joined the joint procurement of the coronavirus vaccine, commonly known as COVAX, co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Mkhize said the government would use a three-pronged approach to funding vaccines that would include:
- The Solidarity Fund
- Medical aid schemes
- Private sector financing
The Solidarity Fund has already made a prepayment of more than 283 million rand for the purchase of the vaccine.
IOL and Reuters
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