- SA is in talks with J&J in an effort to secure Covid-19 vaccines.
- The government has come under fire for being too slow to procure Covid-19 vaccines.
- Aspen Pharmacare could start production of the J&J Covid-19 vaccines in SA by late March, early April.
The health department said in a statement on Thursday that Covid-19 vaccine negotiations with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) were at an advanced stage and that "developments will be announced soon".
J&J told Reuters it was committed to continuing engagement with the South African government.
South Africa has recorded the most coronavirus infections on the continent, at roughly 1.15 million. It is yet to start vaccinating or to receive its first doses, alarming some scientists and health workers.
The government has been criticised by scientists and healthcare workers for moving too slowly to procure Covid-19 vaccines to inoculate South Africans.
Reuters reported earlier that Aspen Pharmacare could start production of J&J's Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa by late March or early April if all approvals are in place, a senior company executive said.
Aspen Pharmacare could start production of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa by late March or early April if all approvals are in place, a senior company executive said.https://t.co/JZJ1b3yGHz
— News24 (@News24) January 7, 2021
All the vaccines produced will be exported to J&J and will be a part of its global supply inventory, Stavros Nicolaou, Group Senior Executive, Strategic Trade at Aspen said.
"We are going to receive a tech transfer to contract manufacture for them (J&J)... Aspen has current capacity to manufacture up to 300 million doses of [the] Covid-19 vaccine," Nicolaou said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday, adding that these would be exported to J&J.
J&J is in the final phase of its clinical trials and is likely to announce results by the end of January, Nicolaou added.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday that South Africa plans to get its first vaccines in February and could vaccinate up to 40 million people over a year to reach herd immunity.
But the government has not signed any big bilateral deals with any of the vaccine manufacturers, although it said the country would get 1.5 million vaccines from the Serum Institute of India.
The government is also sourcing vaccines from the Covax Facility, a global distribution scheme under which South Africa will start getting vaccines by the second quarter of 2021 for 10% of its population of 58 million.
Nicolaou said he was not privy to the status of the negotiations, but the government had requested that Aspen "impress upon" J&J to set aside some vaccines.