Concern over slow inoculation process
THE MEDICAL Research Council has assured the country that more vaccines will start arriving in July after a shortage and increasing demand across the globe.
MRC president Professor Glenda Gray told MPs there will be ramping up in the manufacturing of vaccines in the next few months.
Countries from across the world have been fighting over the shortage of vaccines.
Gray said when the roll-out began there would be more vaccines to be delivered.
“As far as I understand and I am not talking on behalf of the department this is their purview, but as far as I understand the Johnson & Johnson agreements have been signed.
“There is a schedule of vaccines that are available and I am sure we can ask the department of health to indicate when these vaccines will come,” said Gray.
“As far as I know, the global level vaccines have been allotted to South Africa. As everywhere in the world in the next two months, there are shortages but then afterwards the vaccines are going to flow because global manufacturing would have taken place. From what I can see, the global records after July there will be massive access to vaccines.
“But I can’t talk for the department of health, I think they will announce the amount of vaccines coming into the country in the next couple of months taking up to July.”
Some MPs were concerned about the slow inoculation process after 190 000 healthcare workers were vaccinated.
ANC MP Kenny Jacobs said he was concerned if government would reach population immunity of 67% given the slow pace of the administration of the vaccine jabs.
Evelyn Wilson of the DA said the fact that only 190 000 healthcare workers had been vaccinated out of 1.2 million showed the pace of the roll-out of the vaccine was slow.
“That does not take us to the third of the people we need to vaccinate and the third wave is here,” said Wilson.
Naledi Chirwa of the EFF said there were questions if the government would reach herd immunity by the end of the year.
“What is the plan for the programme?
“By the end of 2021, how many people would be vaccinated?,” asked Chirwa.
Gray said they hoped the arrival of more vaccines in July would increase the number of people vaccinated.
She also told MPs that there should be regulation on the sale of alcohol after numbers showed that there were few accidents on the road, violent cases dropped and other trauma cases in hospitals declined during the ban on alcohol.
Gray said this had been an important matter during the ban on the sale of alcohol and government should consider regulating its sale.
She also warned that a third wave was looming after the Easter holidays.