President Ramaphosa must explain who dropped the ball on Covid-19 vaccine

3 December 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to use the opportunity of his impending address to the nation to explain who dropped the ball on the procurement of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Reports today indicate that South Africa has missed the payment deadline for participation in the Covid-19 initiative that would have given the country access to the Covid-19 vaccine.

It is unclear who has bundled the process between National Treasury and the Department of Health. It is unthinkable that the South African government would not be on top of a process this crucial for our country. Thousands have lost their lives to this pandemic and millions have joined the unemployment lines due to the prolonged national lockdown.

It is clear that we cannot afford yet another hard lockdown. Therefore, our energies must be directed to obtaining a vaccine for our frontline workers and rolling it out as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

The President must address this issue and answer the following critical questions:

How far are we with the procurement process;

When will National Treasury make the necessary payments;

How will the vaccine be stored, transported and distributed to the various provinces; and

What the medium and long-term plans are to address Covid-19 in South Africa which don’t include the blunt tool that is a lockdown.

What seems to be missing entirely from the South African government’s plan is a vaccine rollout strategy. Short-termism in dealing with this crisis will not assist the country recover as quickly as is desperately needed. We need a long-term strategy which lies in the procurement and distribution of a vaccine without any further delays.

Issued bySiviwe Gwarube,DA Shadow Minister of Health, 3 December 2020