The SA government is in discussions with SA pharmaceutical giant Aspen over access to a Covid-19 vaccine.
Last week it emerged that 300 million doses of the vaccine, developed by global health-care giant Johnson & Johnson, are to be produced at Aspen’s plant in Port Elizabeth.
Aspen said in a statement the deal would depend on the completion of Johnson & Johnson’s phase three clinical trials. Vials and syringes would then be filled at Aspen’s facility from a bulk supply of vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, after which they would be distributed through the pharma giant’s global supply chain.
Johnson & Johnson has stated it will make 50% of its 2021 targeted production available to developing markets of which SA forms a part. This could make the Johnson & Johnson vaccine a front-runner of the many vaccines the government is trying to get access to.
Health department deputy director-general Dr Anban Pillay has confirmed the discussions, but declined to give further details.
“We are certainly speaking to Johnson & Johnson and Aspen as the contract manufacturer and they are keen to assist us with supply of vaccine as soon as possible,” Dr Pillay said.
It was not immediately clear when the company would be able to deliver the vaccine, nor what it would cost.
Government is also negotiating with Pfizer for a supply of its vaccine at a discounted rate.
Pfizer and vaccine developer BioNTech had offered to supply their Covid-19 vaccine at a discounted rate of $10 (R150) a dose but the presidency said the cost was too high, Bloomberg reports.
A delay suggests that government confirmed a date by which vaccines will be here and we have now changed that date. That’s not the case.
— Health department deputy director-general Dr Anban Pillay
The price — about half what the manufacturers are charging in the US — was based on SA’s status as a middle-income nation.
A health department spokesperson told Bloomberg the department could not comment on the pricing as a deal was yet to be concluded.
Meanwhile, government has paid over R280m to the global pooled procurement initiative co-ordinated by Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, known as Covax, which is looking for the best and affordable vaccines in different countries.
Addressing the nation on December 28, President Cyril Ramaphosa said SA would only get a vaccine in the second quarter of the year, drawing much criticism from people asking why there seems to be a delay.
Pillay said the narrative that the country was delaying getting the vaccine for Covid-19, which is wreaking havoc in the country, was concerning.
“A delay suggests that government confirmed a date by which vaccines will be here and we have now changed that date. That’s not the case, since we had not received an exact date from Covax as yet. Hopefully this will be firmed up in early January,” he said.
“I also know that Covax is trying hard to bring forward the date on the first deliveries. Hopefully this succeeds and we get a vaccine earlier.”
SA had three options when it came to accessing the vaccine. The country could have risked investing in a single pharmaceutical company’s vaccine, pursued bilateral agreements with each vaccine developer or invested in a consortium that spreads the risk across all companies.
“We did not choose to invest in a single company since the risk of failure was high,” he said.
“One could then choose to bilaterally invest with every company, which will be the lowest risk, but this would come at an extraordinary high cost of billions — which SA can ill afford.
“The option which provided the lowest risk, at an affordable price, was Covax. This preferred option was also chosen by 184 countries. This was the recommendation from the ministerial advisory committee (MAC),” said Pillay.
He said countries that have embarked on vaccine rollouts were wealthy and had gambled by going the bilateral route. Some nations had backed the Pfizer vaccine, which was the first to be cleared for use.
“Covax invested with lots of companies, including Pfizer,” said Pillay. “However, these companies are still finalising their regulatory approvals, so once this is done we will see vaccine flowing through Covax.”
Covax has not delivered vaccines to any country to date, he said, adding that lack of available stock and money was the main barrier to procuring the vaccine.
“SA is part of the first group of countries scheduled to receive stock when Covax does its first release,” said Pillay.
He said that even if SA had immediate access to a vaccine, it would still take time to vaccinate the entire population.
“Given that it is a two-dose vaccine, we need to continue the non-pharmaceutical interventions until we get to that point.”
If people did not comply with the now-proven interventions, SA would be hit by a third infection surge.
Additional reporting by Paul Ash
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