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* S.Africa battling COVID-19 resurgence
* Experts criticise govt's vaccine strategy
* Ministry still in talks with pharma companies over deals
* Vaccines from COVAX scheme only expected in Q2
(Adds detail on govt rollout plan)
By Alexander Winning
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 3 (Reuters) - South Africa aims to get
COVID-19 vaccines by next month but is still in talks with
pharmaceutical companies and no deals have been signed yet,
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday, amid growing
criticism of the government's response.
The country is battling a resurgence in coronavirus
infections driven partly by a new variant called 501.V2. It has
recorded more than 1 million infections, the most on the African
continent, and more than 29,000 deaths.
In an opinion piece published in major local news outlets on
Saturday, a group of prominent health experts criticised the
government for moving too slowly to procure sufficient vaccines.
Africa's most industrialised nation is participating in the
COVAX vaccine distribution initiative co-led by the World Health
Organization but the scheme could only cover 10% of its
population of roughly 60 million people and the first doses may
only arrive in the second quarter of the year.
That has caused anxiety among some scientists and academics,
who have urged the government to reach agreements with
pharmaceutical companies quickly given that other countries have
already started vaccinating.
Mkhize said at a news conference that officials were doing
everything possible to obtain vaccines before the COVAX doses
become available.
"We are targeting February, although all of that will depend
very much on the success of the current bilateral negotiations,"
he said.
Mkhize said the ultimate aim was to vaccinate a minimum of
67% of the population to reach herd immunity.
He said the approach would be to target frontline healthcare
workers in the first phase of vaccination, followed by a second
phase comprising essential workers, people in congregate
settings, people over the age of 60 and those aged over 18 with
co-morbidities. A third phase of the rollout would target other
people over the age of 18.
The government has had discussions with vaccine
manufacturers including Pfizer, Moderna,
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, as well as
with ones in Russia and China, a health ministry presentation
showed.
The presentation said negotiations had progressed well and
the government was fairly confident of having supply in the
first quarter.
Mkhize said officials were considering three mechanisms to
fund vaccine procurement: government financing, medical aids and
a private sector contribution.
New daily cases hit a record 18,000 several days ago but
have dipped slightly since.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning, Editing by Timothy Heritage
and Alexandra Hudson)
