The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) says officials are reviewing the efficacy of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and China’s Sinovac vaccine.
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize says South Africa has secured more than fifty million doses of the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines – which are due to arrive in the country over the next few months.
Minister Mkhize reveals expected arrival dates of COVID-19 vaccines:
Russia’s Sputnik V team says despite their vaccine being less effective against the COVID-19 variant found in South Africa, the shot still performs better than other vaccines.
SAHPRA’s CEO Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela says, “We are busy with a review of the Sputnik vaccine, which has been submitted, as well as the Sinovac vaccine, so that is currently in review. Both of them are under the emergency evaluation procedure.”
“So, we are putting all hands on deck to ensure the speedy review of these. The primary case depends on the quality of data and a key question for us is around data being available against the 501.V2 variant even if it is lab data,” explains Semete-Makokotlela.
Click below to listen to the full interview with Semete-Makokotlela:
