SA will get enough vaccines — but not before winter
SA is not going to run short of Covid vaccines, say experts, but it’s also uncertain if it will get the doses it needs — and get them to the right people — before winter
SA will have enough vaccines to weather the Covid storm, say experts. But whether they arrive ahead of winter or by the end of the year, and whether those who most need the shots will get them first, will likely pose bigger problems than the supply.Drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has not yet specified when SA will receive 11-million doses of its vaccine — a single shot that doesn’t require extreme cold storage and has been shown to prevent death from Covid. Those close to the process say 2.8-million doses will arrive between April and June, but no more are likely to arrive until winter, when Covid-19 infections may spike.Pfizer is set to have about 2.8-million doses of its two-shot vaccine ready for SA from the end of March. But as of Tuesday, the government and the pharmaceutical company had yet to sign an agreement.Aspen’s Stavros Nicolaou, who is working with Business for SA on the vaccine rollout and the private sector response, cautions that SA won’t get enough vaccin...
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