President Ramaphosa to Receive 1st Consignment of Covid19 Vaccine

- The first batch of the Covid-19 vaccine has left India and is on it's way to OR Tambo International Airport

- President Cyril Ramaphosa, along with Deputy President David Mabuza and other dignitaries, will receive their doses upon arrival

- One million doses of the vaccine will arrive on Monday afternoon and be rolled out starting two weeks from now

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President Cyril Ramaphosa will receive the first consignment of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday. "Covishield" is being produced under licence by AstraZeneca through the Serum Institute of India.

President Ramaphosa will be joined by Deputy President David Mabuza and Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize at the OR Tambo International Airport later today. One million doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive at around 3pm this afternoon.

Reports say that vaccinations are expected to start two weeks from the arrival date.

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News24 reported that the vaccine doses will be stored and tested before mass rollout through Biovac and other distributors. Another 500 000 vaccine doses are expected to arrive later this month.

A report by EWN stated that Minister Mkhize spoke about 20 million vaccines being ordered from US company Pfizer. They have reportedly been secured and are awaiting delivery dates and precise amounts from manufacturers.

According to gov.za, the aim of rolling out the vaccine in South Africa is to achieve population immunity. Frontline healthcare workers will be the first in the country to receive the vaccination in its first phase.

Briefly.co.za previously reported that Ramaphosa would like the vaccine to be globally accessible. President Ramaphosa implored that the Covid-19 vaccine, once it is available, is accessible to everyone in all countries.

Speaking to the G20 leaders, Ramaphosa insisted that global recovery needs to be completely inclusive:

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"Another immediate task is to ensure that there is equitable and affordable access for all countries to the Covid-19 vaccine once it is developed."

This included aiding poorer nations with the funding to have access to tools established to tackle the pandemic:

"I would like to call upon the G20 countries to assist with the funding shortfalls for the access to Covid-19 tools accelerator to ensure that this platform is able to deliver on its mandate."

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Source: Briefly News