South Africa delays COVID-19 vaccine deliveries due to ‘sufficient stock’

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - South Africa’s Department of Health said on Wednesday it has asked vaccine manufactures to delay deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines for a while because it has “sufficient stock.”

“Currently, we have sufficient stock of vaccines to last us for the next three months or so,” Foster Mohale, the Department of health spokesman, told Anadolu Agency via telephone.

He said the department’s immediate priority is to now accelerate vaccine uptake amongst South Africans ahead of the festive season, a usually busy time of the year when people travel to different parts of the country for holidays.

The delays in deliveries of vaccines to South Africa will enable other countries to place and receive their order from manufacturers, Mohale said.

Africa’s most advanced economy with a population of 60 million has so far administered 24.8 million vaccine doses, and of these 13.9 million are fully vaccinated.

South Africa has one of the largest vaccinated populations in Africa and also had the highest number of infections on the continent with the total number of confirmed cases standing at more than 2.94 million and 89,635 fatalities.