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NATIONAL NEWS - The country’s vaccination programme on Sunday reached a welcomed milestone with Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, announcing the arrival of the first batch of the Pfizer vaccination doses.
The 325 260 doses arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport at 11.45pm.
“The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has considered all the security arrangements from when the vaccine lands at ORTIA to when it is transported to the vaccination sites,” the Minister said in a statement.
He said the NATJOINTS has engaged all security agencies to ensure all necessary security procedures are in place for safe delivery of the vaccines and made the necessary arrangements with the police.
Some good news for South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout
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South Africa finally received good news regarding its vaccination rollout, with the first batch of 325,260 Pfizer vaccines arriving in the country overnight.
A similar amount of weekly vaccine doses is expected to arrive through May for a total of 1.3 million doses by the end of the month. Thereafter, the supply is expected to increase notably to more than 636,000 per week in June.
The arrival of the Pfizer vaccines follows the restarting of phase 1 of the country’s rollout, which focuses on the vaccination of healthcare workers as part of the Sisonke implementation study. The rollout resumed on Wednesday (28 April).
Sipho Mabena Rural and underserved areas will need alternative delivery platforms for the vaccines and the help of the private sector, to ensure they re not left behind. Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize visits the Vaccine Center in the Assembly hall at Charlotte Maxeke hospital in Johanneburg, 8 April 2021. Picture: Neil McCartney Despite a slow start and the on-again-off-again Covid-19 vaccine rollout, experts have expressed faith in South Africa s ability and infrastructure to ramp up inoculations but will need to optimally utilise both public and private resources. To date, 318,670 healthcare workers have been vaccinated since the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine under the Sisonke Study, but this was temporarily halted following reports of a rare clotting condition. ALSO READ: 300,000 Pfizer vaccines
SAâs first batch of Pfizer vaccines have arrived
DURBAN âThe first batch of Pfizer vaccines have officially arrived in the country.
Just after midnight, 325 260 doses of the vaccines landed at the OR Tambo International Airport.
The vaccines were transported from the airport under strict police guard and this morning, samples are expected to be sent to the National Control Laboratory for quality assurance. Thereafter, the vaccines will be distributed to each province.
Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize announced that following this initial delivery of Pfizer approximately the same number of doses are scheduled to arrive on a weekly basis to a total of over 1.3Â million doses by the end of May.
South Africa Receives First Shipment of Pfizer Vaccine - Health Minister Mon 03rd May 2021 | 02:20 PM
A plane carrying the first batch of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has arrived in South Africa, the country s health minister, Zweli Mkhize, said on Monday
JOHANNESBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2021) A plane carrying the first batch of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has arrived in South Africa, the country s health minister, Zweli Mkhize, said on Monday. The first batch of Pfizer vaccines have landed at OR Tambo International Airport [in Johannesburg], Mkhize tweeted.
In his Sunday statement, the health minister said that samples of the Pfizer vaccine would be sent to the National Control Laboratory for quality assurance, after which the doses would be distributed to the provinces.