The majority of South Africans will need to have been vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of this year. This was according to the minister of health, Zweli Mkhize.
Speaking at a media briefing last night, Mkhize said that the government was working ‘around the clock’ to find a way forward to ensure that most South Africans had access to a vaccine. According to the minister about 67% of South Africans will have to be vaccinated against the illness to ensure herd immunity. He also said that the government had already come to agreement with a number of vaccine manufacturers but that these were subject to non-disclosure agreements.
According to Mkhize South Africa had secured enough supply to vaccinate ten percent of the population through the global ‘Covax’ programme. Other supplies would be sourced through the private sector. However, medical aid schemes would not be allowed to privately source vaccines for their members. According to BusinessLive medical aid scheme members and the private sector would be expected to cross-subsidise the public sector.
People who would be first in line to receive vaccines would be frontline healthcare workers, people over the age of 60, and those with co-morbidities.
The government has been heavily criticised for what has been seen as a lackadaisical approach to securing a vaccine to be rolled out, with many other middle-income countries already having secured a supply of the vaccine.