Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation tonight, his office confirmed in a statement.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation at 20h00 today, Monday 1 February 2021, on developments in relation to the country’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic,” the statement said.
“The address follows meetings in recent days of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC) and Cabinet.”
Speculation bis ride that the president will ease some of the regulations die to a steady decline in new Covid-19 cases. Ramaphosa is also expected to shed more light on government efforts to rollout out the much needed vaccines.
The country was expected to receive it’s first shipment of Covid-19 vaccine today.
The first shipment of one million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII) left the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Sunday.
The President and Deputy President will be joined by Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize; Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni; High Commissioner of the Republic of India, Jaideep Sarkar, and Chief Executive Officer of Biovac, Dr Morena Makhoana.
Biovac is a bio-pharmaceutical company that was formed in 2003 in a partnership with government and private investors to establish local vaccine manufacturing capability.
“Biovac will play an important role in the quality assurance, warehousing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. High Commissioner Sarkar will represent India as the country of origin of the first vaccine to be rolled out in South Africa.
“The Serum Institute of India has been licensed to produce a vaccine that has been developed by the multinational pharmaceutical and bio pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, in collaboration with the University of Oxford,” the Presidency said in a statement.
The Presidency said the arrival of the first consignment at OR Tambo Airport in the late afternoon, marks the start of the vaccine rollout, which President Ramaphosa has described as the largest and most complex logistical vaccine undertaking in South Africa’s history.
President @CyrilRamaphosa will address the nation at 20h00 today, Monday 1 February 2021, on developments in relation to the country’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/JCEmKpjHlw
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) February 1, 2021
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