A plane carrying South Africa’s first batch of COVID-19 vaccines on Monday arrived with the promise of bringing much-anticipated relief to the African nation worst affected by the pandemic.
One million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine landed at OR Tambo International Airport in the commercial capital Johannesburg on Monday afternoon, government said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize and deputy president David Mabuza, who chairs the inter-ministerial committee on vaccines, were at the airport to personally receive the consignment, which will be used to immunise front-line health workers.
With almost 1.5 million cases and more than 44,000 deaths, South Africa has been the nation worst affected by COVID-19 throughout the continent.
The country has been racing to secure sufficient vaccines for its population of roughly 60 million people.
The government also secured 12 million doses under the Covax agreement, co-led by the World Health Organisation and GAVI, and 12.25 million doses via the African Union-led African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (Avatt). (dpa/NAN)
