Johannesburg, South Africa – South Africa, the main country affected by COVID on the continent, will receive its first batch of coronavirus vaccines on Monday.
Initially scheduled for the end of January, the first million shots of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine produced in India will be used to inoculate health workers over the next three months. The second batch of 500,000 hits is expected to arrive later in February.
Despite criticism from opposition parties and medical experts that the vaccine procurement process has taken too long, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has described the arrival of vaccines from the Serum Institute. India “a massive achievement of unprecedented proportions.”
Once the shipment has been subjected to quality controls, which will take between 10 and 14 days, the country will begin its long-awaited three-phase vaccination campaign. Following the inoculation of front-line health workers, other high-risk groups such as the elderly, people with comorbidities and essential workers such as minibus drivers, police and teachers will receive the shot. The third phase is aimed at all others over 18 years of age.
The first shipment of 1 million doses of the #OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine from @SerumInstIndia is on its way to @ortambo_int
The shipment left today from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and will arrive in South Africa on February 1, 2021.# COVID19 pic.twitter.com/lTw1EtGi0d– South African Government (@GovernmentZA) January 31, 2021
The arrival of the punctures comes a month after the United Kingdom was the first to deploy the vaccine developed by Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, and about two months after the United Kingdom and the United States began using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Responding to allegations that the delay was caused by the South African government starting negotiations too late, the deputy director general of the National Department of Health, Dr. Anban Pillay, told Al Jazeera: “We could not acquire a vaccine. without knowing it is effective and safe and when it would be delivered. This information was only available in December for some vaccines. We had to wait to have this information before making a financial commitment. “
According to his agreement, South Africa pays $ 5.25 per shot, $ 2 more than it will cost when the same vaccine comes to the agreement that the African Union (AU) has secured for African countries.
Professor Barry Schoeb, who chairs the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) of COVID-19, said South Africa prioritized the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine as “it is the one that was available immediately”.
Authorities aim to vaccinate 40 million South Africans by the end of 2021, or 65% of the population, which exceeds 60 million. “But efficiency will depend on many factors,” Mkhize acknowledged in a public briefing on the vaccine last week, including uncertainty over whether South Africa will actually receive the ordered doses.
While he promised that the government would do everything possible to vaccinate as many people as possible, “currently many other countries are not receiving the supplies they requested,” the minister warned.
According to official sources, 21 million shots of the Pfizer (12 million) and Johnson & Johnson (nine million) vaccines have been secured through collective programs such as the COVAX scheme supported by the World Health Organization and the AU , as well as bilateral agreements with suppliers. Meanwhile, Mkhize told a newspaper on Sunday that Pfizer had ordered another 20 million shots, bringing South Africa’s expected supply to more than 40 million doses.
“These vaccines are protected and expect manufacturers to submit final agreements with details of exact delivery dates and quantities,” Mkhize told the Sunday Times.
South Africa is the African country most affected by the pandemic, with nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases and nearly 44,000 related deaths. In January, new daily infections peaked at more than 20,000, the vast majority of which could be traced back to a new strain identified last year.
The new potent 501Y.V2 variant is believed to be 50 percent more transmissible than previous variants, while some studies have shown that it is relatively more resistant to existing vaccines.
It is currently being studied whether the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is effective against it, with expected results in the coming days.
# Listen to the experts
Professor Barry Schoub demystifies the # COVID19 mildew of the vaccine microchip. pic.twitter.com/cvHCqtFm9c– Department of Health: COVID-19 (@ COVID_19_ZA) January 30, 2021
Meanwhile, the government has launched a campaign on social media (using tags like #VacciNation and #ListenToTheExperts) to dispel myths and rumors about COVID-19 and vaccines that have been widespread.
“We will make sure that adequate information is available for the communities to remove doubts about vaccines,” Mkhize said.
The Department of Health is currently conducting a study to find out the level of vaccine information among health workers, as some appear to be concerned about inoculation.
“People are afraid. They talk about 5G, triple 6 and microchips, “said a nurse who worked at a clinic near downtown Johannesburg. According to the nurse’s information, online training for nurses will begin on Monday.
“Health workers have not been sufficiently informed about the vaccine,” said Sibongiseni Delihlaso, of the Democratic Nursing Organization of South Africa.
“It simply came to our notice then. How can these people convince patients to get vaccinated if they are not convinced? “