First Batch of Covid-19 Vaccines Expected to Arrive in SA

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has confirmed the long-awaited news that the first consignment of one million COVID-19 vaccines is expected to land on South African shores on Monday.

The first batch is scheduled to leave India on Sunday, 31 January, and arrive at OR Tambo International Airport on 1 February 2021.

The Minister broke the news during a public health webinar on COVID-19 vaccine inoculation on Wednesday evening.

“After the arrival of the vaccine, they will undergo technical processes of quarantine, which is specified in the law, quality assurance [which will look at] how many vials are there, how many are broken and need to be returned and all of those issues,” Mkhize explained.

The Minister said the process was necessary for the safe distribution of the vaccine, which will take up to 14 days before the vaccination of healthcare workers can begin in all the provinces.

Types of vaccines

Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Vaccines Chair, Professor Barry Schoub, said there are close to 300 prototype vaccines being developed in different kinds of ways to make COVID-19 shots.

Meanwhile, about six of these are commonly used, namely AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Sinopharm and Sputnik V.

The Deputy Director-General (DDG) for Health, Dr Anban Pillay, said South Africa is looking at securing as many vaccines as is possible.

According to the DDG, the AstraZeneca vaccine, is a two-dose liquid vaccine with an efficacy rate that ranges from 62% to 90%.

The dose interval is between four to 12 weeks and administered in the deltoid muscle with a needle and syringe.

Its side effects include largely tenderness to the injection site, headaches, fatigue, myalgia, malaise, pyrexia, chills, arthralgia and nausea.

Inputs from SAnews.gov.za.