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Why South Africa speedy sold the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to other African countries despite a surge in infection cases in the country?
South Africa’s donated AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from India sold them to the other African States over being ineffective.
South Africa acquired the vaccines in February but did not use them but sold them to 14 other African Union (AU) member states, the Health Ministry said Sunday.
The country suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in February after a study showed it was less effective against the South African variant of the coronavirus known as 501Y.V2.
South Africa speedy sold the AstraZeneca after it had earned 1 million doses of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India and was waiting for another 500,000 doses.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed Sunday that the sale of the AstraZeneca vaccine doses they had acquired had been closed.
Why South Africa speedy sold the AstraZeneca
The Minister added that the first shipment of vaccine doses exported this week and will benefit other nine African Union member states and the remainder to be shipped next week to benefit five other African countries.
South Africa speedy sold the AstraZeneca vaccine to get cash for reliable vaccine. The country which began vaccinating its nearly 60 million people in mid-February, two weeks after stopping the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, is now using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is said to be effective against the 501Y.V2 variant.
More than 180,000 health care workers have been vaccinated.
South Africa has the highest number of infections in Africa with 1,537,852 cases and over 52,000 deaths. Over 1.4 million people in the country have recovered.
President Cyril Ramaphosa insisted on Sunday that his government was working to guarantee that vaccines are available for all of the country’s residents.
