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President Cyril Ramaphosa receives an injection of the Covid-19 vaccine at the Khayelitsha District Hospital in Cape Town.
- The district attorney has withdrawn his court application regarding the government’s vaccine launch plan.
- This comes after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was administered to some healthcare workers this week.
- The Presidency has welcomed the move, saying the DA did not have a case in the first place.
The Presidency has welcomed the district attorney’s decision to withdraw its legal action on the country’s vaccination strategy, saying the opposition party did not have a case in the first place.
“The district attorney had requested a court order declaring that the government’s conduct in preparing and implementing its program to administer Covid-19 vaccines ‘is irrational and unconstitutional,'” the Presidency said Friday.
He said the prosecution also requested an order instructing the government to develop a comprehensive and coordinated plan to acquire, obtain and administer vaccines.
The prosecution’s withdrawal came after the government submitted its response affidavit, outlining the steps it had taken to obtain, purchase, distribute and administer vaccines.
READ | DA Addresses Court for Government to Publish Covid-19 Vaccine Launch Plan
He said he provided details of the plans that had been developed for the show, even though he had provided regular updates on this in the public domain.
“Therefore, the DA did not have a good reason to apply in the first place,” said the Presidency.
“Despite the challenges posed by the reduced efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the 501Y.V2 variant of the virus, vaccination of healthcare workers with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has begun.”
The first vaccines began on Wednesday at the Khayelitsha District Hospital in Cape Town after the first batch of 80,000 doses arrived on Tuesday night.
READ | Covid-19 vaccine launch begins: Ramaphosa and Mkhize take first hit in Khayelitsha
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine came because more research was needed on the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine following the discovery of the 501Y.V2 variant of Covid-19.
On Friday night, the Health Ministry reported a further 151 Covid-19-related deaths.
Twelve people died in the Eastern Cape, 21 in the Free State, 43 in Gauteng, 40 in KwaZulu-Natal, one in Limpopo, eight in Mpumalanga and 26 in the Western Cape. This brings the total number of deaths in South Africa to 48,859.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said he welcomed the “long-delayed release of his Covid-19 vaccination strategy and plan” and said he regretted that the party had to threaten legal action.
“Now that this has happened, the purpose of our judicial challenge has been served and therefore there is no point in going forward with the case.
“We have made it clear to the Presidency that we will be monitoring the implementation of the plan every step of the way and he will see us back in court if the government’s actions show it is unable to meet its commitments.”
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