Johannesburg – South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa said during his address to the nation that this coming Friday will mark exactly one year since the first case of coronavirus was reported in South Africa.
Ramaphosa was briefing the country on government’s latest response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Since then, more than one-and-a-half million people in South Africa have been infected and nearly 50,000 people have been reported to have died from the disease. So much has changed in our country and in our lives. But the spirit of our people has not changed. You have endured the greatest hardships, but you have remained resolute, united and hopeful,” Ramaphosa said.
“Now, a year after the virus first reached our shores, we have a clear path towards containing infections and, ultimately, overcoming the disease. Within less than a year the global scientific community has developed, tested and produced several vaccines that are safe and effective against the disease,” the president said.
The president went on to say that government had long held the view that a vaccine would be the most decisive measure to combat COVID-19, and to that extent set up processes at a continental and national level to prepare for the availability of an effective vaccine.
Vaccine rollout
“In the 10 days since we launched our coronavirus vaccination programme, more than 67,000 health workers – who are on the frontline of our fight against COVID-19 – have been vaccinated,” Ramaphosa further said.
A new batch of 80,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrived in the country yesterday, and we are steadily increasing the number of doses administered each day.
The start of our vaccination campaign has gone extremely well. pic.twitter.com/XrmRUIlYvS— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) February 28, 2021
“The number of sites that will be available for vaccination will be expanded next week from 17 sites to 49 sites. Of the 49 sites, 32 will be at public hospitals & 17 sites in private hospitals. This includes sites in rural areas to improve access to rural healthcare workers.”
“Once the vaccination of healthcare workers has been completed, we will begin with phase two of the vaccine roll-out in late April or early May. Phase 2 will include the elderly, essential workers, persons living or working in institutional settings and those with co-morbidities,” Ramaphosa said.
“For this phase, we will be activating many more sites for vaccination in the public and private healthcare sector so that we can reach as many people in the shortest possible time.”
More vaccines
Ramaphosa said that more vaccines will be heading South Africa’s way.
He said, “We have recently signed an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to secure 11 million doses. Of these doses, 2.8 million doses will be delivered in the second quarter and the rest spread throughout the year. We have also secured 20 million doses from Pfizer, which will be delivered from the second quarter. Additionally, we have secured 12 million vaccine doses from the COVAX facility and are in the process of finalising our dose allocation from the African Union.”
Easing of lockdown measures
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
Sunday World
