The presidency and the African Vaccination Acquisition Trust announced an R289 million donation of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccinations made at the Aspen Pharma factory in Gqeberha on Friday.
"This gift represents South Africa's solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the continent, with whom we are united in combating an unprecedented danger to public health and economic success," said President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In November 2020, Ramaphosa, then-chairperson of the African Union (AU), established the African vaccine acquisition task committee.
"This kind gesture from the people of South Africa," said AU special envoy Strive Masiyiwa on Friday, "will be handed directly to the lowest-income member states as soon as feasible."
"We have already received and given more than 100 million doses of donated vaccinations," he stated, "the majority of which came as a consequence of President Ramaphosa's arduous work with the world's wealthiest nations including the United States, the European Union, and France."
