The chairperson of the ministerial advisory committee (MAC) on Covid-19 vaccines, Professor Barry Schoub, has claimed researchers missed the opportunity to leverage the country’s participation in clinical trials to secure access to vaccines once they became available.
Schoub made the comments during an interview with Judge Dennis Davis, published on Wednesday, while the state faces criticism for failing to conclude any bilateral agreements with vaccine manufacturers.
He said the country’s ability to access vaccines went wrong when leaders of clinical trials did not insist that manufacturers are contractually obliged to supply their products to South Africa.
“It should have been a commitment as part of their arrangement. We didn’t do that. We could have had Johnson & Johnson. We could have had AstraZeneca and to some extent also Pfizer because they were trialled here,” said Schoub.
India vaccine deal is great news, but SA has to find more sources urgently
7 January 2021 6:53 PM
Share This:
After securing 1.5m vaccine doses it s understood govt in discussion with Chinese and Russian manufacturers, says Prof. Helen Rees
South Africa is getting 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (Oxford University), Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Thursday.
The vaccine s being acquired from the Serum Institute of India (SII) - a million doses this month and another 500 000 in February.
Health workers will be prioritised for vaccination.
On The Money Show, Ray White interviews Sahpra chairperson Professor Helen Rees.
The pressure was on. This is just incredibly good news.
The Health Products Regulatory Authority says a police investigation will be done to determine if a syndicate is operating in the country selling the drug Ivermectin for use against the coronavirus.
Thursday 31 December 2020 - 11:05am
The Western Cape is surging towards its second Covid-19 peak. It s expected within the next two weeks and authorities are pulling out all the stops to try manage the spread. The province has more active cases, more hospitalisations and more deaths than during the first wave. Ayesha Ismail has all the details. Courtesy #DStv403
JOHANNESBURG - The Western Cape is expected to reach its second COVID-19 peak within the next two weeks.
Authorities are pulling out all the stops to try to manage the spread.
More beds and more staff are being brought in to deal with the health crisis caused by the rapid spread of COVID-19.
Stateâs vaccine plans could be challenged by Health Justice Initiative
By Staff Reporter
Share
Pretoria â The Health Justice Initiative (HJI) is threatening to go to court to get access to plans for the planned roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa, while the DA is to complain formally that the deadline for a down payment for the Covax programme to procure and distribute a Covid-19 vaccines was missed.
This week the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) announced it would perform rolling reviews of the safety and efficacy of all vaccine candidates, and that it had received its first submission from Johnson & Johnson.