South Africa will donate just over 2 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to other African countries to boost the continent바카라s Covid-19 vaccine drive, the government announced Friday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement today. The Covid-19 vaccine doses, that will approximately cost $18 million, will be produced at the Aspen Pharmacare manufacturing facility in Gqeberha.
South Africa will donate just over 2 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to other African countries to boost the continent바카라s Covid-19 vaccine drive, the government announced Friday.
The doses, worth approximately $18 million, will be produced at the Aspen Pharmacare manufacturing facility in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, and be distributed to various African countries over the next year, according to a statement.
바카라This donation embodies South Africa바카라s solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the continent with whom we are united in fighting an unprecedented threat to public health and economic prosperity,바카라 President Cyril Ramaphosa said in the statement.
바카라The only way in which we can prevent Covid-19 transmission and protect economies and societies on our continent is to successfully immunize a critical mass of the African population with safe and effective vaccines,바카라 said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa is 바카라 making good progress in his recovery from Covid-19 while continuing treatment for mild symptoms,바카라 his office said in a separate statement Friday. Ramaphosa, 69, tested positive for Covid-19 on Dec. 12 and has been isolated at the official residence in Cape Town since then, with treatment by the South African military health service.
Ramaphosa is 바카라in good spirits and comfortable in his recovery,바카라 the statement said.
South Africa바카라s donation will add to the more than 100 million vaccine doses that have been donated to the African Union바카라s African Vaccination Acquisition Trust. The African vaccination group has also purchased 500 million doses to be distributed to countries across the continent.
Africa remains the world바카라s least vaccinated continent. The World Health Organization said that Africa might not reach the target of vaccinating 70% of its 1.3 billion population until the second half of 2024.
Just 20 of Africa바카라s 54 countries have fully vaccinated at least 10% of their populations against Covid-19. Ten African countries have less than 2% of their populations fully vaccinated, according to WHO.
South Africa is currently battling the resurgence of the coronavirus fuelled by the omicron variant. South Africa recorded 24,785 new infections and 36 deaths in the most recent 24-hour reporting cycle. The country바카라s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has risen steeply over the past two weeks from 8.59 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 2 to 39.11 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 16.
More than 78% of the new cases are from the omicron variant, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said in a briefing Friday.
Hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 have increased somewhat but not at rates comparable to the sharp upward curve of new cases, health experts said. In South Africa, omicron has so far resulted in more mild cases than the previous wave, driven by the delta variant, according to health experts. The population바카라s exposure to the coronavirus, as shown by blood tests for be at 72%, could be contributing to the less severe symptoms from omicron, experts said Friday.
South African scientists say that their analysis of data suggests the Pfizer vaccine offers less defense against infection from omicron and reduced, but still good, protection from hospitalization.
Despite the increased number of Covid-19 cases, the government hasn바카라t announced an increase in restrictions.
In contrast to many other African countries, South Africa now has adequate supplies of vaccine doses, estimated at 19 million, but the number of people getting vaccinated has slowed dramatically. Just 12,500 shots were given Thursday, according to official figures, down from an average of about 120,000 per day in November.
More than 15 million South Africans are fully vaccinated, representing 38% of the adult population, according to official statistics.
바카라We are very worried about the drastic decline in the uptake of vaccinations, especially in the last seven to 10 days,바카라 Health Minister Joe Phaahla said in a media briefing Friday.
He urged South Africans to get vaccination shots before the holidays. 바카라Jab before jive!바카라 Phaahla said.