By REGINALD KANYANE
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to receive the first consignment of COVID-19 vaccine on Monday at the OR Tambo International Airport around 3pm.
According to the statement from the presidency, Ramaphosa will be accompanied by the Deputy President, David Mabuza who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccines.
Ramphosa’s acting spokesperson, Tyren Seale said Ramaphosa and Mabuza will be joined by Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, High Commissioner of the Republic of India, Jaideep Sarkar and Dr Morena Makhoana who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Biovac.
“Biovac is a bio-pharmaceutical company that was formed in 2003 in a partnership between 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,” Seale said.
He further said 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.
Seale added that the arrival of the first consignment at OR Tambo International Airport marks the start of the vaccine rollout which Ramaphosa described as the largest and most complex logistical vaccine undertaking in South Africa’s country’s history.
“The scale of delivery is unprecedented in terms of the number of people who have to be reached within a short space of time. The aim of the vaccination programme is to achieve immunity across the population. The first phase of this rollout programme will prioritise around 1.2 million frontline health workers.
“Government is coordinating the vaccine programme through the committee chaired by Deputy President, which is focused on procurement, distribution, actual vaccination, monitoring, communication and mobilisation,” said Seale.
He said today’s arrival event will be brief, with dignitaries witnessing airline, airport, health, customs and security personnel perform their duties of ensuring that the vaccine consignment is cleared and securely transported to its cold-room destination.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Johnn Steenhuisen said: “Today our lawyers made an urgent application to the Western Cape High Court to obtain a declarator that government’s conduct in procuring vaccines as well as its preparation for the rollout of these vaccines are in violation of several constitutional principles.
“We asked the court to instruct government to develop a comprehensive and coordinated vaccination rollout plan, and to deliver this plan no later than one month of the order.”
Steenhuisen added that the failure to provide COVID-19 vaccines timeously when these vaccines are available is a violation of people’s rights, in terms of Section 27(1) of the Constitution, to have access to healthcare services, as well as a violation of government’s obligation in terms of Section 27(2) to take reasonable measures to achieve the progressive realisation of the right to access healthcare.
He said furthermore, it is a violation of the right to life, as enshrined in Section 11 of the Bill of Rights.
“There is also no rationality in failing to secure sufficient vaccines despite knowing early on how important they’d be and having had access to them. This falls short of the fundamental constitutional prescript of the Rule of Law, which requires that decision-making be rational.
“The relief we are seeking is similar to the relief that the TAC was granted two decades ago when it took government to court to compel it to make public its antiretroviral rollout programme,” said Steenhuisen.
He further said without such a transparent plan that includes clear timelines and division of responsibilities, it will be impossible for not only the DA as official opposition, but also the media and civil society, to hold government to account.
The Guardian 