Johnathan Paoli
IN a historic judgment, the North Gauteng high court has ruled on Thursday in favour of directing the National Department of Health to provide access to the vaccine procurement contracts concluded with vaccine manufacturers and suppliers, and the records of negotiation with those parties.
This follows an application by the Health Justice Initiative to make transparent government’s ‘secret’ procurement contracts, after concerns were raised regarding the allocation of public funds within these contracts.
The HJI said that by June 2023 more than 38 million Covid-19 vaccine doses were administered in South Africa, having received several million vaccine doses by directly buying from pharmaceutical companies, through the COVAX facility, and by donations.
According to the judgment, the department has ten days to disclose the Covid-19 vaccine negotiation contracts, meeting notes, and correspondence with any vaccine manufacturer or licensee, including with Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Aspen Pharmacare, Sinovac, and the
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