Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize says the country would now be able to confidently commence the 2nd phase of its mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign, in May this year.

Mkhize provided an update on the country’s vaccine-procurement yesterday and said Government has secured a combined 51-million doses of vaccines.

Mkhize says the consignemnt consists of 31-million doses of the 1-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and another 20-million doses of the 2-dose Pfizer vaccine.

The Minister says the Department has confirmed that more than 1-million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, is set to be delivered to vaccination centres, before the end of April.

He says the consignment of vaccines were produced at the Aspen Pharma-care facility in the Eastern Cape.

He says the company will deliver a further 1.8-million doses of the vaccine in May and June.

He says a portion of the doses may be imported from Belgium.

Mkhize once again assured South Africans that the 1-million doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, which was brought for the initial phase of the vaccination-campaign, has been sold to the African Union. He says the consignment already left the country.

Mkhize says the vaccine’s use in South Africa was suspended after it was found to not be effective against the dominant variant of covid-19, found here in the country.

[ICYMI] WATCH | COVID-19 vaccine drive kicks into high gearhttps://t.co/Ua2gRAsnr9

— eNCA (@eNCA) April 9, 2021