Johannesburg – South Africa’s minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize said last night that the country is aiming to get Covid-19 vaccines by next month, but is still in talks with pharmaceutical companies and no deals have been signed yet.
Mkhize said, “We have been working very hard by following all the research and development that has taken place globally. At this point we do believe that the issue of rolling out vaccines has to be handled with urgency and that is what has driven us to expedite the availability of vaccines.”
The minister went on to say that vaccines has to be made available to all the South Africans, starting with front-line health care workers and the most vulnerable to ensure there is protection for them first as the most vulnerable groups.
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“We are targeting minimum of 67% of the population to achieve herd immunity and the approach will be a phased rollout of the vaccine beginning with the most vulnerable in our population,” the minister said.
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Mkhize said, “We have taken much of the advice of the MAC on Vaccines, which we introduced to the country in September, and we will ask Professor Barry Schoub, the chair of the MAC on Vaccines, to reintroduce the members in a little while and talk on the work they have been doing. The MAC on Vaccines has been working a grueling schedule since it was formed in September, in partnership with government, to advise us on the developments worldwide , suitability of candidates for our country and rollout strategies. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their selfless service to the country and for their expertise and dedication. I would like to indicate that the advisories from MAC will be uploaded by the end of this press briefing Based on their advisories and input from various stakeholders, including other government departments, we have set up structures to expedite financing, sourcing and procurement and therefore the issue of the vaccine strategy will get undivided attention from Department and government. We therefore want to assure the public that we are very mindful of the urgency, particularly as we feel the impact of the second wave we are currently experiencing.”
According to the department of health, the rollout of the vaccines will be done in phases as indicated below:
Phase One:
Front line health care workers (HCW). Target population: 1,250,000
Phase Two:
Essential workers. Target population: 2,500,000
Persons in congregate settings. Target population: 1,100,000
Persons >60 years. Target population: 5,000,000
Persons >18 years with co-morbidities. Target population: 8,000,000
Phase 3:
Other persons >18 years. Target population: 22,500,000
This means that by the end of phase three, 40 350 000 citizens will have been immunized which is equivalent to approximately 67,25% of the population as we have indicated.
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“At this stage we have secured the doses that will be acquired through COVAX which will ensure that we immunize 10% of the population through this mechanism and, in line with President’s statement, we expect the processes will have delivered the vac-cine by beginning of second quarter. The funds to pay the outstanding amount after the deposit that has been made by the Solidarity Fund , around 1,8 billion, have been allocated and let us take the opportunity to once again appreciate the manner in which the Solidarity Fund has partnered with government,” Mkhize further said.
“I hope this gives an overview of the efforts we have made to ensure that we do not get left behind in the equitable distribution of vaccines globally,” Mkhize concluded.
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