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PRETORIA - Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) Candith Mashigo-Dlamini is travelling to Liberia and Sierra Leone to hand over vaccines.
Dirco said the two-nation tour, which kicked off on Monday, would be concluded on Friday.
“The government of South Africa has, through the African Renaissance Fund (ARF), signed an agreement with the African Vaccination Acquisition Trust (AVAT) to contribute a total of 2,030,400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine to African countries,” Dirco said in a statement on Monday.
AVAT was formed following the establishment of the African Union’s Covid-19 African Vaccination Acquisition Task Team in November 2020 by President Cyril Ramaphosa as the then chairperson of the AU.
“The contribution, which will be made to the people of Liberia by the South African government, was produced at the giant pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Qhebera, South Africa, operated by Aspen Pharma,” said Dirco.
“South Africa and Liberia enjoy strong bilateral relations. It is envisaged that South Africa’s contribution of 79,200 doses of the Covid-19 J&J vaccines shall deepen the mutually beneficial cooperation with Liberia and enhance our friendship and relations with the people and government of Liberia.”
In July, a panel of experts said that while many South Africans got excited to finally walk around without face masks in public, the legacy of the coronavirus will haunt South Africa for a long time.
During a webinar hosted by Higher Education Media Services, a panel of experts – which included academics and scientists – explored the effects of the pandemic and its impact on South Africa’s HIV/Aids programme.
South Africa is high on the list of countries with a high HIV rate.
Despite this, the national Health Department had perfected its HIV/ Aids response with the free distribution of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs.
Dr Samantha Potgieter, an infectious disease expert from the University of the Free State, said the pandemic had disrupted access to treatment for chronic illnesses such as HIV.