By Simon Nare
The departments of health, and science, technology and innovation have developed the capacity to produce vaccines in anticipation of any pandemic that can strike in the country or the continent, according to Science Minister Blade Nzimande.
Answering questions in the National Council of Provinces, he said South Africa was working with some of the big countries from around the globe such as China, Germany and France in developing these vaccines.
The minister said the department had sprung into action following the Covid-19 pandemic which nearly paralysed the economies of the entire world and claimed millions of lives.
“I am proud to say since Covid-19, the president said to me, in the light of the challenges we are facing with the acquisition of vaccines by the African continent, what can you do? I am very pleased to say now we have developed capacity to begin to produce some of the vaccines in South Africa.
“Vaccines that are also needed in the continent not all of them. But there are vaccines that are important for diseases in our continent,” the minister said on Tuesday.
Nzimande said the development of these vaccines was done through what he called health innovation as part of the vaccine-integrated manufacturing strategy.
The department was working with the World Health Organisation and the countries he mentioned.
He said it was important for South Africa that in developing these vaccines, it should develop for the rest of Africa so that the continent did not have to depend on the developed countries if they were to take long to deliver vaccines in case of a pandemic.
“We might find that they (vaccines) are not there. We are going to face challenges (if vaccines needed are not there). Also, the second thing that I would just like to say by the way, which is important, is that the president is leading an effort on Africa pandemic preparedness.
“Covid-19 taught us a lesson that when you have a pandemic you must always be ready. And scientists are telling us that we are still going to have other pandemics because of the climate change. Here is one now called mpox.
“So, we are working very hard as part of the president’s initiative on pandemic preparedness to be able to develop a strategy working with other departments. We are working very closely with the department of health, very, very closely,” he emphasised.
Nzimande said even at the height of Covid-19, the department was collaborating with the health department and established what was known as an observatory at the Council for Science and Industrial Research, which monitored the Covid-19 numbers on an hourly basis. It tracked where new infections were coming from, which areas had more deaths and what were the reasons, he said.
INSIDE POLITICS
