Ramaphosa confirms Solidarity Fund will make first vaccine payment
President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that the Solidarity Fund will make the initial payment of R327 million towards the country’s Covid-19 vaccine procurement.
Ramaphosa confirmed the payment during his address to the nation on Thursday evening.
It follows reports that South Africa had missed the initial payment deadline to join the COVAX Covid-19 vaccine distribution scheme.
South Africa, which accounts for more than a third of Africa's 2.2 million infections, is expecting to secure its first doses through the World Health Organization initiative to facilitate poor countries' access to coronavirus vaccines.
Despite Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's announcement last month that the treasury had R500 million available for vaccines, News24 reported that South Africa had missed the first payment window to join COVAX.
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The payment was apparently delayed because the department was awaiting approvals from the treasury.
But Ramaphosa said the Solidarity Fund will step in to make payment.
“We are encouraged that the Solidarity Fund will be making the initial contribution of R327 million towards this vaccine procurement on behalf of our country.
“We are also encouraged by the promising results from three trials of candidate vaccines, which have shown efficacy levels of between 70 and 95 per cent.
“We await confirmation from medicine regulators that these vaccines are safe, effective and suitable for our needs.
“In South Africa, our own Health Products Regulatory Authority will review the approval applications when received from the developers and authorise their use.”
