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Clearing the way for the country to ramp up its inoculation plan.
By S thembile Cele, Bloomberg
2 Jun 2021 14:30
Image: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
South Africa expects the Food & Drug Administration to clear the release of Johnson & Johnson vaccines later this week after a contamination incident at a US plant, clearing the way for the country to ramp up its inoculation plan.
âWe expect that this Friday the FDA will make an announcement and we will get our J&J vaccines soon,â Health Department Director-General Sandile Buthelezi said at the Black Business Council summit in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
South Africa has ordered just over 30 million of the single-dose J&J shot, enough to cover about half the population. Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd., the countryâs biggest drugmaker, has a contract to fill and package the vaccine at a local plant.
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There are fewer than 10 vaccine manufacturers in Africa, based across Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal and South Africa, according to the World Health Organisation. And most of those carry out packaging and labeling rather than manufacturing. That makes the continent ill-equipped to source and supply doses in times of crisis, as this pandemic has demonstrated.
âThe only way to ensure vaccine equity is to produce more vaccines where they are needed,â Rwanda President Paul Kagame said this week. âSo long as Africa remains dependent on other regions for vaccines, we will always be at the back of the queue whenever there is scarcity.â