Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Thursday that 1 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine would be brought in from India this month.
Another 500 000 doses would be available to healthcare workers in February.
SAMA chairperson Angelique Coetzee believes the rollout of the vaccine will ease concerns in the sector.
“SAMA is extremely happy. We applaud the National Department of Health and the minister on the acquisition of 1.5 million of the coronavirus vaccine. We think it is extremely important. It’s a step in the right direction and we welcome it.
“That’s enough for the first dosage, there should be coming in more for the second dosage.“
AstraZeneca is a two-shot vaccine with 70 per cent efficacy.
It’s seen as a game-changer by many experts because it doesn’t require very cold temperatures for storage like the ones from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Coetzee says it is a better pick for South Africa.
“The requirements for the cold chain is between 4 and 8 degrees and that should not be a problem going forward as lots of the private sector, doctors and GPs have refrigerators where they can store the vaccine, as well the public sector would be able to store the vaccine,” she explains.
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