South African health ministry on Sunday concluded the sale of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to other African Union (AU) member states, reported Africa News.
The health ministry had received 1 million AstraZeneca doses from the Serum Institute of India last month. The delivery of another 500,000 doses was pending. The government decided to halt AstraZeneca vaccinations after a small trial showed that the vaccine offered very minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by a new dominant variant of the coronavirus. The new variant became dominant in the country during a second wave of the pandemic last year.
The South African health ministry said before making the deal, it had ensured that all member states identified by the AU vaccines acquisition teams as the vaccine recipients had all necessary regulatory approvals, licenses, and permits to roll out the Astrazeneca vaccines.
South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the full purchase amount was received by the Department of Health on Monday last week.
He confirmed that the first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine was sent to nine AU member states on Sunday, while the remaining doses will be sent to five other countries sometime later this week.
“The first batch of vaccines that is being delivered will benefit 9 member states and the balance will be collected this week to be delivered to 5 other member states,” the statement said.
The statement did not mention the price and not even the name of the countries that had purchased the vaccines.
Many countries suspended the Astrazeneca vaccine after there were reports of the vaccine causing blood clots in a few cases. But the AU had found that the benefits of using the AstraZeneca vaccine far outweighed the risks.
After suspending the roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the South African health ministry began inoculating healthcare workers with the Johnson & Johnson shots.
South Africa has reported more than 1.5 million Covid-19 cases, including more than 52,000 deaths, so far. The cumulative recoveries stand at around 1 463 953.
