By Vijay Surujpal
The delays in procuring vaccines expeditiously have been met with criticism from many sectors in the country. The government sprung into action when an alliance of experts, consisting of high-profile doctors and scientists, penned a letter articulating their disdain at the slow pace of vaccine procurement.
The vaccine is the only hope to stop the virus from spreading. Non-pharmaceutical measures such as wearing of masks is not having the desired outcomes, mainly because of non-compliance.
The government has come under tremendous pressure for reneging on its responsibility to pay the vaccine deposit on time. South Africa, due to its slow response, missed out on having bilaterals with manufacturers such as AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson.
Astrazeneca used South Africans in this country to test the efficacy of its vaccines. Johnson and Johnson is manufacturing and packaging three million vials of the vaccine in South Africa, to be exported for use in other countries. Thus South Africa could have secured vaccines to inoculate the entire population sooner rather than later.
The aim of the vaccination drive is to achieve herd immunity where the transmission rate is curtailed with few infections that can be easily dealt with. It is thanks to BioNtech and the Serum Institute of India that our government has secured 1.5 million doses of the vaccine which is expected to reach our shores by the end of this month.
Front-line employees, being healthcare workers, will be the beneficiaries of the first consignment. As record numbers of infections are being reported daily, the delay in the procurement of the vaccine will negatively impact the statistics related to coronavirus deaths.
The Star