To date, more than 15.9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in 37 countries. Almost half of all countries rely solely on the Covax facility for access to vaccines, and they may have to wait until 2022 for their shipment. We take a look at which vaccines have been dispensed.
Latest - Towards herd immunity from Covid-19: Costing a vaccine strategy for South Africa wits.ac.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wits.ac.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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.
2021-01 - Towards herd immunity from Covid-19: Costing a vaccine strategy for South Africa wits.ac.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wits.ac.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
First published in Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper
A group of South African scientists and researchers took the first steps in the elusive hunt for a vaccine in the first weeks that the Covid-19 virus started felling lives in the country in the same way it was doing in other parts of the world.
Our chase for a vaccine in a world changed by a virus represents humankind as an exquisite ecosystem, each person playing some part – not for glory or personal gain but because our very survival depends on it.
The behind-the-scenes work was completed by the first half of the year, so that by the middle of June scientists and researchers were ready with the public announcement that it was all systems go for clinical trials.