‘No clear plan on vaccine rollout’ – Calls for transparency grows

Only hours after South Africa took delivery of its first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines, the government came under fire from opposition parties for its handling of the rollout process.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday received the consignment of one million doses of the Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute in India and developed by AstraZeneca and University of Oxford.

Following a televised speech by the president on Monday night, opposition parties had scathing remarks over the way procurement of the vaccine had been handled.

DA leader John Steenhuisen said the government’s failure to secure vaccines made a third wave of Covid-19 “inevitable”.

“That the first vaccines only arrived on our shores [on Monday] is a failure, not an achievement,” he said in a statement.

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa admits government hasn’t been ‘sufficiently transparent’ about vaccine plan

“With no significant vaccine arrivals until May and the bulk of what we can expect this year only arriving towards the end of the year, we find ourselves staring at a third wave come winter and with it another lockdown.”

In his speech, Ramaphosa said the vaccines marked a turning point in the country’s fight against Covid-19.

“The arrival of these vaccines contains the promise that we can turn the tide on this disease that has caused so much devastation and hardship in our country and across the world,” Ramaphosa said.

But Steenhuisen said the government was “yet to deliver an explicit, comprehensive procurement and rollout plan” and that the DA had taken legal action to force government to communicate and commit to a detailed plan.

“While other countries with comparable economies are already administering hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 vaccines per day, South Africa is yet to administer a single dose.

“The fact is, government has spent more effort and taxpayer money keeping people off the beach than procuring lifesaving vaccines for them,” the DA leader added.

READ MORE: Q&A: Should you be afraid of the vaccine? A doctor weighs in

FF Plus leader Dr Pieter Groenewald agreed that “government clearly still does not have a proper vaccination programme in place”.

He said it remained unclear which provinces and hospitals would be prioritised for the vaccination programme or how effective the government’s electronic systems would be.

“The electronic systems that will, among other things, be used to make appointments to receive the vaccine, do not instil much confidence.

“Other projects that the government launched on the same basis, like the electronic application system for the special Covid-19 social relief grant of R350, experienced enormous problems with implementation,” said Groenewald.

According to Ramaphosa, government has identified 200 facilities across the country to administer the vaccine, and health staff will be first in line to receive the vaccine.

Groenewald added: “Many South Africans do not have access to the internet and, thus, the notion that an electronic system will effectively reach the people is wishful thinking.

“This underscores the fact that at present, there exists no realistic strategy for a comprehensive vaccination programme.”

ALSO READ: SA ‘quite prepared’ as first batch of vaccines lands

The EFF also questioned the government’s rollout plan, calling for a more transparent process.

“The EFF is… concerned about the secrecy associated with the vaccine distribution strategy and plan. A lifesaving worldwide vaccination should not be constrained by insensible Non-Disclosure Agreements and Intellectual Property barriers that disallow manufacturers from developing and reproducing the vaccine in the manner that will save humanity,” the party said in a statement.

Corruption in the distribution process was also a key concern, the EFF said.

“Mr. Ramaphosa has not announced any measure to contain the massive corruption that defines his entire administration and without clear prohibitive mechanisms, the vaccination phase of fighting the coronavirus will be defined by massive corruption and nepotism.”

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