Prioritizing Health Workers, South Africa Starts Covid-19 Vaccination Today

AstraZeneca Vaccine. (Source: Wikimedia Commons / Agencia Brasilia)

JAKARTA - If nothing changes, South Africa will start a coronavirus vaccination program on Monday, February 1 local time. South Africa is a country with the highest infection and death rates due to COVID-19 in the African continent. There were 1.5 million confirmed positive cases and nearly 44 thousand deaths.

One of the causes of the high number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa is the existence of a new variant 501Y.V2 which is said to be 50 percent more contagious than the previous virus. Several studies have shown that this variant is more resistant to existing vaccines.

Using the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in India, the first 1 million injections will be prioritized for health workers over the next three months. Launching Al Jazeera, the second batch of 500 thousand doses of vaccine is scheduled to arrive later this month.

Criticized for being considered too long in procuring vaccines, South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize appreciated the arrival of this vaccine, calling it an unprecedented achievement.

South Africa is targeting vaccinations for its 40 million people by the end of 2021, about 65 percent of the population of 60 million. However, Mkhize said this depends on many factors while still promising the best of efforts.

"Its efficiency will depend on many factors, including the certainty of receiving the number of vaccines to order. We will try our best, many countries are currently unable to get the supplies they ordered," he said.

After health workers, vaccines will be given to the elderly, people with comorbidities, to important workers such as police, teachers and public transport drivers. Only in the third wave of vaccinations are targeted for all people over 18 years of age.

"We cannot get a vaccine without knowing its effectiveness, safety and when it will be delivered. This information is only available in December for some vaccines. We have to wait to get this info, before making a financial commitment," said Deputy Director General of the South African Ministry of National Health Dr Dr. . Anban Pillay.

Apart from AstraZeneca, South Africa has also secured 12 million vaccine doses from Pfizer and 9 million vaccines from Johnson & Johnson through collective programs such as the COVAX scheme with the support of a number of agencies and vaccine manufacturers. With an additional 20 million doses from the new Pfizer deal, South Africa expects a vaccine supply to receive more than 40 million doses.