{"id":107984,"date":"2021-02-25T15:03:56","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T15:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=107984"},"modified":"2021-02-25T15:03:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T15:03:56","slug":"south-africa-aims-to-vaccinate-1-1-million-by-end-of-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/south-africa-aims-to-vaccinate-1-1-million-by-end-of-march\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa aims to vaccinate 1.1 million by end of March"},"content":{"rendered":"
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa aims to vaccinate around 1.1 million people against COVID-19 by the end of March as it ramps up its immunisation programme, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday.<\/p> Addressing parliament, Mkhize also said authorities might have to inoculate more than their original target of 40 million people to reach herd immunity.<\/p>\n The country, hit far harder by the pandemic than any other in Africa, started rolling out Johnson & Johnson\u2019s (J&J) vaccine last week in a research study targeting healthcare workers. It hopes to receive doses of the Pfizer vaccine soon.<\/p>\n Mkhize said so far more than 32,000 health workers had been given the J&J shot.<\/p>\n Previously, South Africa said it had secured 20 million doses from Pfizer and 9 million from J&J.<\/p>\n But Mkhize said those numbers were just \u201copening negotiations\u201d and final volumes were likely to be different. \u201cOnce it is finalised we will announce new numbers very soon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Authorities had estimated that, to ensure population herd immunity, at least 40 million people needed to be vaccinated.<\/p>\n However, \u201cas we go on with our discussions, it does appear we may have to do more than 40 million,\u201d Mkhize told parliament\u2019s upper house.<\/p>\n Mkhize, a trained medical doctor, said on Tuesday that government advisers had grouped COVID-19 vaccines into three categories and those considered for \u201cimmediate use\u201d were the J&J, Pfizer and Moderna shots.<\/p>\n A health ministry presentation on Thursday said \u201cfull licensing\u201d through local medicines regulator SAHPRA for J&J\u2019s vaccine could take \u201ca couple of months\u201d.<\/p>\n South Africa has recorded around 1.5 million COVID-19 cases and 49,500 deaths to date, respectively over one-third and almost half of Africa\u2019s totals.<\/p>\n