SA targets 5m elderly people in phase 2 of vaccine rollout

On May 17, 2021

South Africa set to launch phase two of its vaccine rollout on Monday with the aim of inoculating five million citizens aged over 60 by the end of June.

The health minister Zweli Mkhize disclosed this during a webinar on Sunday.

“This is provided that the supply of vaccines flows as anticipated. By the end of June we expect to have received 4.5 million doses of Pfizer and 2 million doses from Johnson & Johnson,” he said.

Mkhize said that more than 325 000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine would arrive at midnight on Sunday, bringing the total of Pfizer doses up to 975 780.

So far South Africa has ordered enough Covid-19 vaccines for 46 million of its 60 million population.

The health minister said the country was still awaiting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be released by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after its administration was paused and then restarted two weeks later due to concerns over blood clots.

South Africa is Africa’s worst-hit country in terms of infections and fatalities, with over 55,000 deaths and more than 1.6 million confirmed cases of Covid-19.

MTO/Reuters