South Africa’s Health Ministry has assured citizens that the country will receive 1 Million doses of the COVID-19 vaccination and they will prioritize vaccinating health workers before it is rolled out to the rest of the population.
This was revealed in a statement published by the country’s health Minister Zweli Mkhize who in a statement said they will receive 1 million doses this month and a further half a million doses next month.
When we held the press briefing on Sunday, 3 January 2021, we indicated that, in so far as our negotiations with individual manufacturing companies were concerned, we were bound by the non-disclo-sure agreements and confidentiality clauses that we had agreed to. We accept these as we recognize that we are negotiating with independent private companies who may not want details disclosed until certain or all terms and conditions between the parties are met.
At the press briefing I, as the Minister of Health, gave an undertaking to the South African public that we will prioritize the protection of our health workers by ensuring that they receive the vaccine by February 2021. At the time I could not disclose further details. Today, I am pleased to announce that the Serum Institute of India (SII) has given us permission to make a public announcement and start engaging with all relevant stakeholders in preparation for the rollout.
In our presentation, we also stated that as a country, we have an estimated 1.25 million health care workers both from public and private to be prioritized. It is for this reason that today we announce that South Africa will be receiving 1 000 000 (one million) doses in January and 500 000 (five hundred thousand) doses In February from the SII.
As recently as yesterday, our teams from the National Department of Health and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) were fine-tuning and aligning all the regulations pro-cesses to ensure that there are no unnecessary delays or regulatory impediments to activate this rollout
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health has not shared any information regarding the country’s plan to secure the vaccination as yet. Britain pledged to help Zimbabwe with 3 million doses last month.
Source: SA Department of Health
