© Provided by Xinhua Deputy Foreign Trade and Integration Minister Benjamin Blanco told Xinhua that Chinese vaccines are the most widely applied in Bol
SA to add Russian Sputnik, Chinese Sinopharm shots to vaccine array
By Paul Vecchiatto
(Bloomberg) – South Africa plans to buy Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines and shots developed by China’s Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd as it steps up efforts to tackle the coronavirus.
The government will order 10 million doses of each shot, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told lawmakers in Cape Town on Wednesday. “We are doing this now because we do expect the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority to approve those vaccines,” he said.
South Africa, the nation that’s been hardest hit by the pandemic on the continent, resumed its administration of Johnson & Johnson vaccines to health-care workers on Wednesday, after putting their use on hold for two weeks due to concerns that they could be linked to blood clots. Almost 1.58 million Covid-19 cases have been detected in South Africa and more than 54,000 of those diagnosed with the disease have died.
India is clearly gaining the edge over China when it comes to vaccine diplomacy.Free shipments containing the first batch of Covishield which is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India have already reached many nations. 2 million doses were supplied to Bangladesh, while 1 million was given to Nepal as a gift unde