Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has urged those above 60 years old to vaccinate because the ‘ama-2000s’ (18 years and older) will soon be part of the coronavirus vaccine roll out.
She’s also pleaded with those between 35 to 49 to bring along their parents and elder siblings for the vaccination programme.
The acting minister says the coronavirus situation in the Western Cape, Northern Cape, North West and the Free State remains a concern.
Media briefing on outcomes of the Cabinet meeting:
Ntshavheni was addressing the media in Pretoria following the Cabinet meeting. She says the arrival of more than five and a half million Pfizer doses from the US was most welcome.
“It is indeed a great pleasure for us as a nation that the group that is most economically active has come to the party to get this population into a vaccination mode.
Because if we don’t vaccinate them they remain most vulnerable and as a country, we do not want to go through another wave of the pandemic, we want to keep the economy open.”
Meanwhile, the Africa Centre for Disease Control has finally secured a predictable source of COVID-19 vaccines for the continent.
An agreement with ASPEN in South Africa will see a confirmed 220-million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine shared amongst members of states by September next 2022.
Africa CDC distributes COVID-19 vaccines to AU member countries:
The first batch of 6.4 million doses of the single-shot drug will be dispatched to 35 countries during the month of August.
This vaccine acquisition led by African Union Special Envoy for COVID-19, Strive Masiyiwa, and is support through a loan facility of two billion USD dollars by Afreximbank.
More than eight months since developing nations started their COVID-19 vaccination programmes, Africa has finalised a deal that will see a steady distribution of vaccines for member states’ roll outs.
Having to depend on donations from high-income countries like France and the United States saw African countries experience start-and-stop on their inoculation drives.
The number of doses was also limited meaning the goal to have the majority of adults vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity has shifted.
The deal by the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust lead by the Special Envoy for COVID-19, Strive Masiyiwa says the Johnson & Johnson doses from South Africa will be transported and distributed by UNICEF to other nations.
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