Premier
With regard to his government’s procurement of a COVID-19 vaccine:
- (a) What is the total cost that has been incurred by his government to date in the process of procuring a vaccine, including (i) the breakdown of the total expenditure and (ii) the names of the companies that his government has engaged in the process, (b)(i) what progress has been made with regard to the provincial procurement of a COVID-19 vaccine and (ii) when can the delivery of the procured vaccine be expected and (c)(i) what is the total budget for the procurement of a vaccine and (ii) how many doses are being targeted;
- whether, with regard to the high demand for a vaccine and the slowness and difficulty in securing a vaccine for the province, he will consider abandoning the process of procuring a vaccine; if not, why not?
[1][a][i] No costs have been incurred thus far for the procurement of vaccines.
[ii] Through our supply chain management’s processes, we have engaged with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
[b][i] The Department of Health, in conjunction with the Provincial Treasury, have worked extensively on the planning processes and systems required in order to ensure a corruption-free, responsible vaccine procurement programme which delivers a vaccine that is safe and effective in our context. These processes are ongoing. Further, the department has developed a compliance checklist which needs to be filled in by any person or entity approaching the WCG with an offer of vaccines. To date there have been no compliant respondents. It is important to note that the province is only eligible to procure vaccines approved by SAHPRA. To date, SAHPRA has only given approval for Covishield, which has minimal efficacy against the prevalent variant in our country. No vaccine which is proven to have good effectiveness has received approval. We eagerly anticipate the outcome and efficacy data of applications under consideration.
[ii] As above, until such time as SAHPRA gives approval for a vaccine/s that are proven to be effective in our context, no procurement will take place.
[c][i] The Provincial Minister of Finance will be tabling the budget on 16 March 2021 and as per the commitment made in the State of the Province Address, will detail the budget for all aspects of the vaccine strategy – including acquisition.
[ii] The target is to top up any anticipated shortfall in supply to our province.
[2] While the slow pace of vaccine procurement by the national government has been and continues to be a concern, the Western Cape Government has used the time to put in place processes and systems to ensure an effective vaccine rollout strategy. To date we have administered over 18 000 of the 25 960 vaccines received as part of the Sisonke trial. We have also put governance and compliance controls in place so that when we have identified a supplier that is SAHPRA approved, we are able to procure the vaccine. I will not abandon my efforts to procure a vaccine as it is our best weapon to defeat Covid-19, protect lives and restore our economy.
