Union takes action over vaccines

TRADE union Solidarity said it would be meeting with its lawyers today to discuss the way forward in the union’s legal action against the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra).

The union said it was shocked to learn that Sahpra’s registration of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine contains provisions stipulating that only the government may purchase the vaccine.

Solidarity has given Sahpra till the end of the week to respond to its demands. The union said it was acting on behalf of its 200 000 members.

“This is a cynical attempt by the government to be the sole purchaser of vaccines. After initial attempts were halted by the courts, the government is now trying to maintain its unlawful position as sole purchaser through the back door,” said Connie Mulder, head of the Solidarity Research Institute.

Mulder accused the government of holding South Africa to “ransom for ideological purposes”.

“Whoever buys or sells the vaccine has nothing to do with its effectiveness or its quality. Sahpra is setting irrational conditions for the registration of the vaccine which have little to do with medicine but much to do with politics,” Mulder said.

The union said South Africa was miles behind with its vaccination programme compared to other African countries.

“We need to vaccinate the entire population as quickly as possible. How someone acquires the vaccine is irrelevant for the purpose of group immunity. Slowing down the programme even further by excluding the private sector from the purchasing process with unreasonable regulations is inconceivable and simply means that more people will die,” Mulder said.

He said what made this provision even more disturbing was that the government announced that enough vaccine doses had been secured for the entire South African population.

“Therefore, this provision has nothing to do with ensuring there is enough stock – it is simply a cynical attempt to ensure that the government alone can decide who gets which vaccine. They want to make vaccine beggars of the South African public,” he said.

National Health Department spokesperson Popo Maja said the vaccine roll-out plan was centralised for now because the country was in the middle of a pandemic.

Sahpra was not available for comment.