Govt ‘taken aback’ by onerous vaccine clauses, Mkhize tells MPs
Updated | By Sinethemba Madolo
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has assured MPs that the country’s vaccination campaign will continue despite the pause in the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
South Africa has secured an additional 10 million Covid-19 Pfizer vaccines.
Mkhize addressed the Parliament’s health committee on Wednesday morning.
It comes a day after SA authorities decided to temporarily halt the inoculations involving J&J due to blood clotting fears.
Mkhize told MPs the extra doses will increase the total number of the two-dose vaccine to 30 million.
“We can now guarantee that the number of people that will be vaccinated with Pfizer has increased from 10 to 15 million.”
Mkhize also confirmed that Pfizer had committed to a weekly schedule starting on May 3.
Each week until May 17 the country will receive 325 260 vaccines.
The number will them almost double on May 31 and June 7, 14 and 21 with 636 480 vaccines landing.
ALSO READ: Mkhize hails Pfizer as silver lining amid J&J moratorium
However, he said both the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson agreements, which both cost US$10 per vaccine, have non-refundable clauses.
“The agreements state that down payments that have been made in advance by the department shall not be refundable by the manufacturer to us in any circumstances.
“This is another onerous term that we had to settle for,” Mkhize said.
He also told MPs that government received an email from J&J, stating that they will not sign off the 20 million doses until they receive a letter fromcTrade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel, expressing support for the local investment that they made in Aspen Pharmacare.
“We’ve been taken aback by this, as there are clauses in the agreement that express this support and acknowledge that this production will not just be limited to South Africa and the continent, but also targeted for the global market,” said Mkhize.
He acknowledged that government has had to navigate through difficult and sometimes unreasonable terms.
“I can also assure that we haven’t been sleeping on the job,” Mkhize said.
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