Originally intimidated by the dangers, South African street vendor Palesa Sekwere is slowly approaching the idea of getting a coronavirus vaccine.
“I believe. . . the time will come when I will tell myself that I have to find this, “said the 32-year-old in Soweto, Johannesburg’s largest city.
But the biggest problem for Sekwere is that they have to move out of the grocery store where they sell one-rand restaurants such as health, a kind of donut. So even though his cage is facing the hospital while many sit on plastic chairs waiting for the jabs, “I can’t [easily join them], because I am here working, ”he said.
So far this year, South Africa has led the richest economy in Africa by vaccinating 17.5% of its population, or 7m people, by the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the Pfizer jab. This compares with less than 3% of Africa’s total population, on a contract that is at risk of falling backwards as rich countries chase down global shortages.
Although its economic power has helped to buy vaccines in the future and on a scale, seizures have begun to decline in the goals set by the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa, mainly due to the difficulty of distributing jabs to the poor.
Jabs is open to all over the age of 18 and government and non-governmental organizations are providing 1m of medicine almost every four days, starting every 14 days in June. This is still a decrease in the daily rate of about 300,000 to 400,000, a sign that more people are coming out.
With more than 200,000 people estimated to have died from Covid-19 depending on the number of deaths, South Africa is an African country most affected by the epidemic and nearly half of South Africans need vaccinations, according to a recent study.
But the poorest are also the ones who have difficulty going to the vaccination center, not getting a job break or having access to information about the immunization schedule. The rural areas of the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, two districts with emergency response programs, have vaccinated more people than any other region.
“We have a problem but I think it has to do with distribution,” the legacy of declining health care and old-fashioned barriers rather than procrastination, says Russell Rensburg, director of the Rural Health Advocacy Project in South Africa.
‘The Remnant’
As the vaccine is delayed, some South African companies are starting to order vaccinations. In early September, Discovery, a South African healthcare provider, and Sanlam, Africa’s largest insurer, said it would seek jabs from all its partners from early next year – the country’s first major companies to do so.
The South African government is not considering international action, says Joe Phaahla, South Africa’s health minister. “Our main goal is to encourage and motivate people to come voluntarily.” The South African football federation is currently planning to offer free tickets to vaccinated fans in the upcoming match against Ethiopia.
In any case, the vaccine work of fellow employers would not be a problem in a country where there are no more than 34% jobs, while many like Sekwere rely on non-profit jobs to support themselves.
Complaints about the proliferation of rich countries are expected in a country where the crisis is even more severe, Rensburg said. “The US has already received 50% vaccination [hesitancy] it became a problem. Not even 20 percent. ”
South Africa needs to look at “those who are left or those who have not gone”, such as those who are at risk for more than 50 years, Rensburg said. “We have weapons, we don’t use them. . . if we can get the rural vaccine properly, we believe we can provide a basis for other African countries. ”
They are starving
Outside of South Africa, the priorities of the contract continue to meet demand. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said this month that legal jabs were “a major problem” in his country, with only 900,000 of the 13m people receiving a full vaccination. “How do you get a standard vaccine if you don’t have a vaccine?” he said.
Last week Covax, a program sponsored by the World Health Organization to provide vaccines to developing countries, reduced their forecast for this year by about 25%. In the aftermath of a stampede with AstraZeneca at the Serum Institute of India, the African Union (AU) has entered into an agreement to secure a total of 400m from J&J by next year.
“Double J&J. “Because it’s one drug, it’s very good for us,” said Strive Masiyiwa, the AU’s special envoy for vaccination. J&J’s delivery remains temporary, he said. and a comparison of the South African Health Justice Initiative, an NGO that encourages people in Africa to get vaccinated.
Meanwhile, ahead of the fourth major tsunami, South Africa is trying to promote the importation of jab by signaling the availability of goods. “Wherever we are, even if the whole of Soweto comes, we can vaccinate them… What we need by hand,” Phaahla, the health minister, said last week during a vaccination tour of the town.
But while “it is better to go and get the vaccine”, it is not easy to quit and go through a small town to do so, says Cebile Nqambule, 40, a street vendor in Soweto.