Johannesburg, South Africa – South Africa, the continent’s worst COVID-affected country, is set to receive its first batch of coronavirus vaccines on Monday.
Originally scheduled for the end of January, the first one million photos 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 jabs is scheduled to arrive later in February.
Despite criticism from opposition parties and medical experts that the process of acquiring the vaccine took too long, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize called the arrival of vaccines from the Serum Institute of India “a massive achievement of unprecedented proportions”.
Once the batch has undergone quality checks, which will take between 10 and 14 days, the country will begin its long-awaited three-phase immunization campaign. After the inoculation of front-line health workers, other high-risk groups such as the elderly, people with comorbidities and key workers such as minibus drivers, police officers and teachers will be shot. The third phase targets everyone else over the age of 18.
The first transport of 1 million doses of #OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine from @SerumInstIndia is on its way to @ortambo_int
The transport left Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport today and will arrive in South Africa on February 1, 2021.# COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/lTw1EtGi0d– South African Government (@GovernmentZA) January 31, 2021
The arrival of the blows comes a month after the United Kingdom was the first to launch the vaccine developed by Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and 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 for the National Department of Health, Dr. Anban Pillay, told Al Jazeera: “We could not get a vaccine without knowing that it is efficient, safe and when delivered. This information became available only in December for some vaccines. We had to wait to get this information before making a financial commitment. ”
According to his agreement, South Africa pays $ 5.25 per photo, $ 2 more than it will cost when the same vaccine arrives under the agreement that the African Union (AU) has provided for African countries.
Professor Barry Schoeb, who chairs the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) for COVID-19, said South Africa had given priority to the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine because “it was the one that was immediately available”.
Authorities aim to vaccinate 40 million South Africans by the end of 2021, or 65% of the population of almost 60 million. “But the effectiveness will depend on a lot of factors,” Mkhize acknowledged in a public internet briefing on the vaccine last week, including uncertainty over whether South Africa will actually receive the doses ordered.
Although he promised that the government will do everything possible to vaccinate as many people as possible, “currently many other countries are not receiving the supplies they have ordered,” the minister warned.
According to official sources, 21 million photographs of the Pfizer (12 million) and Johnson & Johnson (nine million) vaccines were provided 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 Sunday newspaper that another 20 million shots had been ordered by Pfizer, bringing South Africa’s expected supply to more than 40 million doses.
“These vaccines are secure and are waiting for manufacturers to submit final agreements with details of delivery dates and exact quantities,” Mkhize told The Sunday Times.
South Africa is the African country most affected by the pandemic, with almost 1.5 million confirmed cases and almost 44,000 associated deaths. In January, new daily infections peaked at over 20,000, the vast majority of which could be traced to a new strain identified last year.
The new strong 501Y.V2 variant is believed to be 50% more transmissible than previous variants, while some studies have shown that it is relatively more resistant to existing vaccines.
Whether the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is effective against it is currently being studied with expected results in the coming days.
#ListenToTheExperts
Professor Barry Schoub demystifies # COVID-19 the myth 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 social campaign – using hashtags such as #VacciNation and #ListenToTheExperts – to expose myths and rumors about COVID-19 and vaccines that have circulated widely.
“We will make sure that there is adequate information available to the communities to dispel 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 afraid of being inoculated.
“People are scared. I’m talking about 5G, triple 6 and microchips, “said a nurse who works at a clinic in downtown Johannesburg. According to the nurse’s information, the online training of the nurses will start on Monday.
“Healthcare workers have not been sufficiently informed about the vaccine,” said Sibongiseni Delihlaso of the Democratic Organization for Health Care in South Africa.
“It simply came to our notice then. How will they persuade these patients to receive the vaccine if they are not convinced? ”