Arthur Greene
After turning down an offer of 15 million free doses of the Sputnik V vaccine in February, South Africa is now considering buying 5 million doses of the same vaccine for an estimated R680 million.
According to Rapport, the government turned down the offer made by Russian president Vladimir Putin in February because it had not been approved by the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra).
It was not yet known how effective the vaccine would be against the dominant variant in South Africa (now referred to by the World Health Organisation as the Beta Variant).
The government was reportedly desperate to avoid a situation similar to the 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca purchased in January, which were ultimately palmed off to the African Union.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in April that he wanted to buy 5 million doses of Sputnik V, which could come at a cost of R680 million.
To make matters worse, South Africa’s rejection of Russia’s “gesture of goodwill” angered the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which made the offer.
“The tone of the conversation with Sahpra officials was negative. It is clear that instructions were given to the officials to sink the ship with the Russians,” an RDIF official claims.
Therefore, the offer of free vaccines made by Russia in February was likely to be a one-off.
Saprah is reportedly awaiting evidence that the Sputnik V vaccine is effective against the Beta Variant and is safe to use for people with HIV/Aids.
“We cannot buy Sputnik V if it does not work against the local variant,” a ministerial advisory committee source said.
South Africa has had a slow start to its vaccine rollout. Besides the AstraZeneca shambles, the country temporarily halted the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in April after US regulatory bodies ordered its suspension.
The decision followed reports of a rare clotting condition in six people out of 6.8 million doses administered.
This week, the country has passed the one million mark of vaccines administered.
Image source: @sputnikvaccine
