South Africa Receives First Batch Of COVID-19 Vaccine

South Africa on Monday received its first batch of Covid-19 vaccine. This is according to an official post on its Twitter handle.

The 1 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses produced by the Serum Institute of India are expected to be used to inoculate frontline healthcare workers, starting mid-February.

President Cyril Rampahosa inspected the shipment before trucks hauled it away to the laboratories of the country’s medicines regulator where the vaccines will undergo further efficacy tests before being deployed.

[Photos] President @CyrilRamaphosa and Deputy President @DDMabuza receive South Africa’s first consignment of the #COVID19 vaccine.

This batch will benefit our healthcare workers who have been at the forefront of keeping us all safe. #WeChooseVaccination #VaccinesForSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/w2OWlgzAv2

— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) February 1, 2021

The government intends to inoculate 40 million people, representing 67% of the country’s population of 60 million, by the end of the year.

South Africa is the hardest-hit African country by the COVID-19 pandemic, having reported 1,453,761 infections with 44,164 deaths.