(ANSA-AFP)) - JOHANNESBURG, 22 JAN - South Africa will buy the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at a price 2.5 times higher than most European countries.
This was reported by the health ministry in Johannesburg.
South Africa, the country most affected by the virus on the African continent, has ordered at least 1.5 million doses of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India for January and February.
Doses that would cost US $ 5.25 (€ 4.32) each, nearly 2.5 times the amount paid by most European countries, as claimed by a senior health official.
EU members will instead pay 1.78 euros ($ 2.16) for AstraZeneca dosages, according to information leaked by a Belgian minister on Twitter last month.
Last year the World Health Organization warned against "vaccine nationalism" and "price scam".
South Africa is grappling with a second wave of infections fueled by a new variant of the coronavirus deemed the most contagious by scientists.
To date, the country has registered over 1.3 million cases and 38,800 deaths.
The government aims to avaccinate two thirds of its population - around 40 million out of nearly 60 million people - to obtain herd immunity by the end of 2021 (ANSA-AFP).
