JOHANNESBURG – South Africa will begin launching Covid-19 vaccines without the need for local photo regulatory approval, a step expected by other low- and middle-income countries struggling to inoculate their populations against coronavirus.
South Africa’s health ministry said the country would receive 1 million doses of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and the AstraZeneca PLC in January from the Serum Institute in India, which has an agreement to manufacture and distribute the photos. A second shipment of 500,000 doses is expected in February. The vaccine requires two doses to reach its maximum effect.
Other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and developing countries may imitate South Africa’s decision to bypass local regulators in an effort to speed up the shooting for at least some of their most at-risk citizens. Some do not have their own national drug approval authorities and are expected to rely on World Health Organization certification for the launch of Covid-19 vaccines.
The shootings ordered by South Africa from India will be given to health workers, who have borne the brunt of a wave in the new Covid-19 cases. Researchers believe that the new wave of infections has been exacerbated by a new, probably more transmissible variant of coronavirus discovered in the country. In December alone, 5,000 health workers gave positive results for the disease, putting an additional burden on the hospitals they already face.
South Africa, a country of 60 million people, reported 21,832 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, its highest daily number, and 392 deaths. Nearly a third of coronavirus tests return positive – an indication that the actual number of infections is likely to be much higher – and the South African Medical Research Council said it had nearly 7,000 excess deaths in the Christmas week, most likely due to Covid-19.