R10bn allocated for vaccine roll-out
FINANCE Minister Tito Mboweni yesterday announced more than R10 billion for the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine over the next two years.
Delivering his Budget speech in a hybrid sitting of Parliament, Mboweni said they had crafted a fiscal framework that extended support to the economy and public health services in the short term, while ensuring the sustainability of public finances in the medium term.
“We are allocating more than R10bn for the purchase and delivery of vaccines over the next two years.
“We increase the contingency reserve from R5bn to R12bn to make provision for the further purchase of vaccines and to cater for other emergencies,” he said.
“Of the R10.3bn for vaccines, R2.4bn is allocated to provincial departments of health to administer the Covid-19 vaccine programme,” Mboweni said.
According to the National Treasury’s Budget documents, the department will spend R6.5bn to procure and distribute vaccines.
An amount of R100 million will be transferred to the South African Medical Research Council for vaccine research. “The Government Communications and Information Service allocated R50m for the associated communication campaign,” read the Budget documents.
The Treasury stated that the government had allocated R1.3bn in the current year for vaccine purchases.
“Given the uncertainty around final costs, an estimated R9bn could be drawn on from the contingency reserve and emergency allocations, bringing total potential funding for the vaccination programme to about R19.3bn.” In January, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the government was aiming to vaccinate 67% of the population over 12 months.
Access to the vaccination will be provided free of charge in line with need and the roll-out schedule.
However, Mboweni said the government would also put in place a no-fault compensation fund to cover claims in the unlikely event of any severe vaccine injuries.
National Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane said: “Apart from the immediate health benefits for millions of South Africans, a successful vaccination programme will allow the economy to fully reopen.”
The National Treasury’s Budget document said the roll-out of the mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign to the public would be free of charge.
“This will save many lives and support full reopening of the economy. Over time, as global lockdowns are phased out in response to vaccination efforts, South Africa will benefit from the resumption of international goods trade and a resurgence in tourism.”
According to the National Treasury, the funding for vaccine procurement and the roll-out would be drawn from the national Budget.
“Since the state is procuring vaccines on behalf of both the public and private sectors, some revenue will return to the fiscus when private providers buy vaccines from the state.”
Meanwhile, a total of R121.3m has been allocated over the medium term expenditure framework period to the National Health Insurance (NHI) programme for strengthening the department’s NHI unit.
The unit is expected to be transferred to the entity when it is created.
“Until the fund is established, the bulk of allocations for activities related to NHI are channelled through an NHI indirect grant, which is allocated R7.5bn over the MTEF period.”