The first vaccine shipment arrived at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport on Monday afternoon and it was received by South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa.
According officials, the AstraZeneca vaccine shipment was purchased from an Indian manufacturer.
“The scale of delivery is unprecedented in terms of the number of people who have to be reached within a short space of time," said President Ramaphosa in a statement.
He stated that 1.2 million front-line health workers will the first to be vaccinated.
Since the Covid-19 virus emerged in South Africa in March 2020, the country has become the viral hotspot of the continent. So far, there are 1.4 million confirmed cases in the country.
In late December, reports indicated that there was a second wave of the virus in South Africa.
The wave features a new variant that is significantly more contagious.
However, there seems to be a decline on the peak of the wave.
According to the head of the country’s coronavirus task force Dr. Salim Abdool Karim, current vaccines are expected to work on the South African variant labeled 501.V2.
After Morocco, Egypt, the Seychelles and Guinea,South Africa becomes the fifth African country to roll out vaccinations.
Shipment of approximately 300 million vaccines is awaited by other African countries.
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