SOUTH AFRICA SOLD PREVIOUSLY PURCHASED ASTRAZENECA VACCINE DOSES TO AU NATIONS

Mon 22 March 2021:

South African Health Ministry on Sunday said that the country sold all doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus that it had at disposal to the member states of the African Union (AU).

“The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, is pleased to announce that the sale of the Astra Zeneca vaccines that we had acquired has been concluded,” the ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, over the past weeks, the ministry conducted checks on regulatory approvals, permits, and other documents confirming African nations as recipients of the vaccine doses, determined by the AU.

Besides, the ministry confirmed that the first shipment of the AstraZeneca jabs is currently distributed among nine AU countries. However, the latter are not specified.

The national mass vaccination program in South Africa was initiated on February 17 and is being carried out in three stages, with the first one reserved for healthcare staff. It was set to begin with the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout, but it was put on hold due to efficacy concerns against the South African coronavirus strain. Instead, the country kicked off the immunization campaign with the first delivery from the US company Johnson & Johnson.