By REGINALD KANYANE
President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country has begun a new chapter in the struggle against the coronavirus. This comes after the country received its first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines. Ramaphosa said the consignment consisting of one million doses of the Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute in India.
This vaccine was developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca together with the University of Oxford and South Africa was one of the countries where clinical trials were held to assess the drug’s efficacy.
“The arrival of these vaccines contains the promise that we can turn the tide on this disease that has caused so much devastation and hardship in our country and across the world.
“The speed and scale at which new vaccines have been developed is unprecedented in human history and represents the monumental progress that humanity can achieve in the face of a common threat,” he said.
Ramaphosa added that South Africa has been part of this incredible journey by the global community in search of a lasting solution to the COVID-19 pandemic. He further thanked all South Africans who participated in various vaccines trials on a voluntary basis and commend all the researchers who led these studies.
“Many of our researchers have participated in ground-breaking research in the field of genomics providing new information about the virus leading to the identification of the variant known as 501Y.V2.
“Now that the vaccines have arrived, they will be tested at the National Control Laboratory to confirm that their integrity has been maintained during transportation,” said Ramaphosa.
He said after testing, they will be distributed across the country to thousands of healthcare workers who every day put their own lives at risk to save others.
Ramaphosa said in accordance with a phased rollout strategy, all healthcare workers in the public and private sectors will be prioritised for vaccination.
“Provincial health departments have submitted their distribution plans and we have identified about 200 facilities to which the vaccines can be distributed.
“Once we have completed the vaccination of healthcare workers, we will move to Phase 2 of the national vaccine strategy, which will include essential workers, people over 60 years, people with co-morbidities as well as those living in places such as nursing homes and hostels,” he said.
Ramaphosa said in Phase 3, they will extend the vaccination programme to the rest of the adult population. He said they know many of South Africans will be asking the all-important question on how they will access the vaccine if they fall in the categories to which he has have referred,” he said.
“The Department of Health has developed an Electronic Vaccine Data System to streamline the vaccine registration and rollout process. This will allow us to capture all relevant data associated with the administration of the vaccine,” said Ramaphosa.
He said: “This system allows a person to make an appointment as soon as they qualify for a vaccination at the vaccine centre closest to them. The system will record vaccinations as they are administered.
“As I said during my previous address, we are sourcing our vaccines from a number of suppliers. In addition to the 1 million Covishield doses that we received today, we expect another 500,000 doses from the Serum Institute of India to arrive later in February.”
Ramaphosa said they have secured 12 million doses in total from the global COVAX facility, which has indicated that it will release approximately 2 million doses by March. He further said they have secured 9 million vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson, commencing with delivery in the second quarter.
“Johnson & Johnson has contracted Aspen, one of our pharmaceutical companies, to manufacture these vaccines in South Africa. In addition, Pfizer has committed 20 million vaccine doses commencing with deliveries in the second quarter.
“We are in advanced negotiations with manufacturers to secure additional supplies. South Africa will also receive an allocation of vaccine doses through the African Union, which has been negotiating with manufacturers to secure vaccines for the entire continent on a pooled basis,” said Ramaphosa.
The Guardian 