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JOHANNESBURG, March 21 (Reuters) - South Africa has
concluded the sale of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines it
had acquired but did not use to other African Union (AU) member
states, the health ministry said on Sunday.
The country had paused AstraZeneca vaccinations last month
because of a small trial showing the shot offered minimal
protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the
dominant local coronavirus variant.
At the time, South Africa had received 1 million AstraZeneca
doses from the Serum Institute of India and the delivery of
another 500,000 was pending.
The ministry said it had in the past weeks worked to ensure
that all member states identified by the AU vaccines acquisition
teams as recipients of the vaccines were compliant and had
obtained all regulatory approvals, permits and licences to roll
out the vaccines in their respective countries.
"The minister can confirm that the full purchase amount was
received by the department on Monday last week," it said in a
statement.
"The first batch of vaccines that is being delivered will
benefit 9 member states and the balance will be collected this
week to be delivered to 5 other member states."
The statement made no mention of prices and did not name the
countries that had purchased the vaccines.
After pausing the roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine, South
Africa started inoculating healthcare workers with Johnson &
Johnson shots in a research study.
The government plans to vaccinate 40 million people, or
two-thirds of the population, to achieve some level of herd
immunity.
(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Catherine
Evans and Giles Elgood)
