SA’s exemplary vaccine rollout a model for Africa
THE AU aims to vaccinate at least 60% of the continent’s 1.2 billion population by next year. It has appointed President Cyril Ramaphosa to champion Africa's Covid-19 response strategy, following his successful tenure as chairperson last year. The AU Commission on Africa’s Covid-19 response was established to support the president in his championship role.
The focal area is to enhance access to vaccines, accelerate manufacturing, and provide investment into research and development on the continent.
South Africa’s exemplary national vaccine roll-out programme has influenced the aspirations of the AU. The country’s innovative risk-adjusted strategy is driven at the highest level by the National Coronavirus Command Council, chaired by Ramaphosa, and supported by the inter-ministerial committee on vaccines chaired by Deputy President David Mabuza.
The multifaceted strategy is based on scientific evidence, which dictated the intervention approach to the virus since it emerged in 2019. The government’s mass communication and mobilisation campaign has been at the forefront of driving messaging on the importance of vaccination. The work has also been supported by research to track the public’s response towards the messages.
Research by the Human Sciences Research Council showed that acceptance of Covid-19 vaccines climbed from 67% in January to 72% in August. There was also a notable 11% increase in the acceptance rate of the age group 55 years and above, which was at 85%.
The research finding confirm that vaccine hesitancy does no longer pose a serious threat to the roll-out.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has assured South Africans that the country has enough vaccines. All nine provinces have increased their vaccination sites, which include mass pop-up and drive-through vaccination sites.
Free transport has also been provided for those unable to access the vaccination sites. Some of the innovations in other provinces include house visits, especially to senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
The vaccine roll-out programme now includes people aged 18 years and above. Its success will reduce the burden on the health-care system, the economy and society at large.
As part of the continent’s interventions to fight the virus, South Africa continues to foster collaboration with other regions, businesses, and multinationals to boost the region’s access to vaccines. Africa remains resolute to become self-sustainable in respect of vaccine production for this and any future pandemics.
African Development Bank President Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said the ADB had invested $5 billion (about R70.8bn) to support vaccine manufacturing across Africa. World Bank Group President David Malpass has highlighted vaccine financing programmes in 54 countries. More than half of these are in Africa.
South Africa supports the drive to enhance vaccine manufacturing production in Africa. It joins countries such as Algeria, which pronounced its partnership with Russia to produce the Sputnik V vaccine. Egypt has signed a co-operative agreement to produce the Sinovac vaccine. Morocco has a memorandum with Sweden to scale up vaccine manufacturing capacity.
The Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing, launched in April, also falls under Ramaphosa’s championship and has proved to be a driving force to co-ordinate, incentivise and concretise Africa's manufacturing aspirations.
South Africa, together with India, initiated the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights waiver as part of a strategy to democratise the manufacturing of Covid-19 tools, including vaccines. South Africa is participating in the waiver negotiations, which seek to ensure an equitable access to Covid-19 tools.
African media houses have played a critical role in disseminating pertinent information and have contributed immensely towards helping South Africa pass the 10 million vaccination milestone. The National Communications Partnership's personnel from all sectors use up-to-date information sanctioned by the Department of Health and the Government Communication and Information System.
The communication approach continues to be relevant in bolstering our efforts to achieve herd immunity. The drive to vaccinate most of the population is on track. Vaccination continues to be the best defence against Covid19. It reduces the risk of serious illness, hospitalisation and death.
The Department of Health is engaging stakeholders to ensure that all undocumented foreign nationals are also vaccinated. The government holds the humanitarian view that no one is safe until everyone is safe, and that prevention is better than cure.