Weren’t they supposed to start in the first quarter of 2021?
No. The commitment we’ve received from Covax is towards the end of the first quarter or the second quarter of this year.
Weren’t we hoping for the first quarter?
Hopefully it will be. It’s possible. Covax [a pool procurement mechanism] needs to negotiate with the vaccine manufacturers for an allocation which will be spread through many countries.
Does Covax decide what vaccine we get?
They’ll probably give us a bouquet of vaccines to choose from once they’ve concluded their negotiations and purchased the vaccines.
So we’re in no position to expedite the process?
No.
It’s out of our hands?
As far as Covax is concerned. Their commitment is for 10% of the population. But there are in addition bilateral negotiations between a government/business consortium and manufacturers to acquire vaccines over and above Covax and try and get them even sooner.
Why is the Covax process so slow?
High income countries pre-bought vaccines at their risk during the trials of the vaccines, even before they were licensed, from different manufacturers, to see which would fail and which would not fail. Covax can’t afford this.
How many manufacturers are we negotiating with?
At least four.
Have we narrowed them down?
Not at this stage. We need to look at it very critically. What are the trial data, how safe, how effective? The storage data, distribution data and how applicable it is to SA.
Shouldn’t we go for the ones we’ve been trialling here?
That’s one of the factors because that’s shown how they behave in our South African situation.
So shouldn’t we already have all the answers?
We have many of the answers, but we do need to look at other issues including the components. It’s a large dossier which gets examined by the licensing authority.
What progress are you making?
Progress behind the scenes has been very good.
Does our involvement in the trials confer any rollout advantages?
That would be an advantage factor with the manufacturers in negotiations.
Does it improve our chances of getting the vaccines sooner?
I’m not privy to those negotiations but it should do, absolutely.
How long will it take to achieve herd immunity?
Six to nine months at least.
So by the end of 2021?
That’s a realistic prospect but I don’t want to be held to it.
Why are we so far behind comparable countries?
They may have had the disposable income, even if not the wealthiest of countries, to have pre-bought vaccines at risk. With our economy we couldn’t afford to do that.
Has the government shown enough urgency?
Yes. But what they couldn’t do is buy at risk.
Do we have the capacity for a mass rollout?
There are challenges in deep rural parts, but I think they can be met.
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