South Africa to open up COVID-19 vaccinations to 18-35 year olds from August 20

The South African government on August 19 announced that the country will open up COVID-19 vaccinations to those aged between 18 and 35 years from Friday. The government said that as part of increasing the vaccination roll-out programme, Cabinet approved the vaccination of persons aged between 18 years and 25 years from August 20. It is worth mentioning that South Africa has recorded the most COVID-19 cases and deaths on the African continent but it has so far only fully vaccinated less than eight per cent of its population of 60 million. 

South Africa's vaccination campaign had commenced shakily earlier this year, in February. This was because the government had paused AstraZeneca vaccinations. The pause was put in place because of a small trial that showed that the shot offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the Beta variant of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the Beta variant was dominant in the country. The vaccinations in the country have since ramped up.  

The first vaccine doses were given to healthcare workers in a research study from mid-February before the elderly were vaccinated from mid-May. From August 1 those aged 35 years and over also became eligible to receive the jab. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration has set a target of reaching at least 300,000 COVID-19 vaccinations a day by the end of this month. 

South Africa’s vaccination drive 

South Africa aims to have given at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 35 million of its people by December, compared to roughly 7.7 million now. The newly appointed health minister, Joe Phaahla, also stated that the government was planning to start using other COVID-19 vaccinations approved by the regulator, including the Sinovac shot. Currently, ​​South Africa is using the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines. 

South Africa now appears to have an adequate supply of doses. More than 5.7 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had arrived earlier this month from the US, part of President Joe Biden's distribution of more than 110 million surplus doses to more than 60 countries. South Africa has also purchased more than 40 million Pfizer/BioNTech doses, which are being delivered in regular shipments, and 30 million Johnson & Johnson doses.

(Image: AP/Pixabay)