Sandra Rodriguez, 63, receives a COVID-19 vaccination at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida -- volunteers in the state are flocking to take part in clinical trials for a possible vaccine against the coronavirus. AFP/CHANDAN KHANNA
As other countries around the world grapple with the teething problems of Covid-19 vaccine roll outs, why is South Africa, the sixth-most affected country, still waiting for a vaccine to hit its shores?
Economist Dick Forslund speculated the answer lay in policy blunders by National Treasury dating back to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s massive budget cuts announced in February last year – as opposition parties put pressure on government for more details on bring the vaccine to SA.
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It began, Forslund said, with Mboweni’s decision to cut public spending over the next three years by R261 million.
This would result in public spending on health go down 4.4% in that period.
“This is right now costing lives,” he said. “Why did the test contracts not include deliveries of a first tranche of vaccines here where they were tested?”
National Treasury declined to comment, saying all would be revealed today when the portfolio committee on health received a briefing from the health minister.
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