South Africa Expected to Receive its First Batch of COVID-19 Vaccines Today

Written by Mfundo on 1 February, 2021

By: Mfundo Mabaso

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President David Mabuza, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccines, alongside Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, will receive the country’s first consignment of vaccines today at the OR Tambo International Airport.

The shipment of the one-million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccines from the Serum Institute of India (SII) left the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on 31 January 2021.

Last month Mkhize said according to department’s calculation, they need 67-70% of the population to be immunised to break the cycle of transmission – what is called the herd immunity.

The first phase of this rollout programme will prioritise around 1.2 million frontline health workers.

Meanwhile, Health department’s Deputy Director-General, Dr Anban Pillay, spoke to the public broadcaster about the quality checks before the start of the three-phase immunisation campaign.