What Cyril said

ALCOHOL: OFF-SITE SALES NOW PERMITTED FROM MONDAY TO THURSDAY

Pfizer has committed 20 million vaccine doses

Public places such as beaches, dams, rivers, parks and public swimming pools will also be reopened.

While it was in the best interests of everyone as many people receive the vaccine as possible, no-one would be forced to take the vaccine, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his “family meeting” last night.

Nobody will be forbidden from travelling, enrolling at school or from taking part in any public activity if they have not been vaccinated, Ramaphosa said.

“We aim to make the vaccine available to every single adult living in South Africa, regardless of their citizenship or residence status.”

He noted government would be putting in place measures to deal with the immense challenge of undocumented migrants so that, as with all other people, their vaccination record would be documented.

“The department of health has developed an electronic vaccine data system to streamline the vaccine registration and rollout process,” Ramaphosa said.

“This will allow us to capture all relevant data associated with the administration of the vaccine.

“This system allows a person to make an appointment as soon as they qualify for a vaccination at the vaccine centre closest to them. The system will record vaccinations as they are administered.”

Meanwhile, the adjusted lockdown Level 3 was readjusted again to allow for the controlled sale of alcohol.

Ramaphosa announced the sale of alcohol by licensed premises for off-site consumption would be permitted from Mondays to Thursdays, from 10am to 6pm.

“Duty-free shops, registered wineries, wine farms, micro-breweries and micro-distilleries will be able to sell alcohol for off-site consumption during their normal licensed operating hours,” said the president.

The sale of alcohol by licensed premises – such as restaurants and taverns – for on-site consumption would be permitted throughout the week from 10am to 10pm.

Public places such as beaches, dams, rivers, parks and public swimming pools would also be reopened subject to health protocols.

Earlier, Ramaphosa said the vaccines would be “tested at the national control laboratory to confirm that their integrity has been maintained during transportation”.

The health department did not respond to queries about how many vials would be used in this process.

In addition to the one million Covishield doses which arrived yesterday, another 500 000 doses from the Serum Institute of India are expected to arrive later this month.

Ramaphosa also said South Africa had secured 12 million doses the global Covax facility, which would release approximately two million doses by March.

He also said nine million vaccine doses were coming from Johnson & Johnson, commencing with delivery in the second quarter”.

“Johnson & Johnson has contracted Aspen, one of our pharmaceutical companies, to manufacture these vaccines in South Africa,” the president said.

“Pfizer has also committed 20 million vaccine doses commencing with deliveries in the second quarter.”