South Africa
Health workers to receive first jabs─── 05:19 Thu, 11 Feb 2021
Health workers will receive the first jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine next week.
But just how the plan will unfold, is still unclear.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed to Parliament that the country's frontline workers will now be receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Government is yet to decide what to do with the Astra Zeneca vaccine which they were originally expected to receive.
Mkhize says a rollout timeline is very much dependent on supply from pharmaceutical companies.
"We are going to be delayed a little bit and in that process, we will still start next week," he said.
"But the nature of the process is that we will probably be starting with fewer doses now than what we had before."
Mkhize says talks with other pharmaceutical giants, including China's Sinopharm, are ongoing in efforts to procure as many vaccine doses for South Africa as possible.
