The government says it is on track to sign an agreement and make a payment for the Covid-19 vaccine by December 15.
The health department said the county remains a member state of the COVAX facility and still holds its strategic position as co-chair of the access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), of which COVAX is a major component.
“In order to secure enough doses to vaccinate 10% of our population, we will be required to make a down payment of R327,118,080, of which the Solidarity Fund has generously agreed to make this initial contribution.
“We are concluding the memorandum of understanding between the Solidarity Fund and the national department of health in the next few days. The full cost of purchasing the doses required is estimated at R2,156,934,840,” said the statement, issued on Friday night.