Why South Africa is selling its stock of one million AstraZeneca vaccines

South Africa completed the sale of one million doses of AstraZeneca against the coronavirus it had in stock, which will be distributed among fourteen member countries of the African Union (AU), as reported this Sunday by the local health ministry.

In mid-February, the African country has solved stop using AstraZeneca vaccines after a study indicated that the inoculation developed by scientists at Oxford offered minimal protection against the local variant of the coronavirus. By that time, South Africa had already received one million doses.

Pretoria immediately announced its intention to donate this huge batch of doses to the African Union (AU).

The holder of the South African health portfolio, Zweli Mhkize announced the transaction in a statement, and said: “I am happy to report that the sale of the AstraZeneca vaccines we have purchased has ended.”

According to the statement, the South African Department of Health has worked to ensure that all member states identified by AU vaccine procurement teams as vaccine recipients comply with and obtain regulatory approvals, permits and the corresponding licenses for the use of vaccines in their respective countries. countries.

The announcement did not specify the costs of the operation or specify which countries will receive the vaccinations.

After stopping the vaccination campaign, South Africa started the inoculation process with injections of Johnson & johnson health workers. Government authorities plan to vaccinate two-thirds of their population to achieve a certain level of herd immunity.

AFP and Reuters agencies

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