Will India Be Sending The COVID-19 Vaccines To South Africa Soon?

You can approve of something and give a nod of approval as some say, but that doesn’t mean that you would, in all certainty, go ahead and interact with the subject of approval, or at best, adopt it. In that regard, even as South Africa seems to have given a nod of approval to the vaccines currently being utilized by India, it doesn’t mean- at least, at this point in time- that South Africa and India will be inking a deal in the COVID 19 vaccine space.

Isn’t it?

But who knows, the opposite could also come true in the imminent future for where it stands then truth certainly is that both nations are in grip of the Coronavirus scare, as is the rest of the world.

And truth be told, we can always offer validations to how a particular nation or region handles a crisis or a gripping (or tense) situation. But whether one will adopt that particular strategy is subject to approvals and a set of processes that requires clearances from the government

So thus far, the only thing known in the context of the COVID 19 vaccine on the one hand, and South Africa and India, on the other is that the former has given a green signal in a sense to the kind (quality, grade) of vaccines being used by Mahatma Gandhi-land.

Another important factor that one must consider in order to fully gauge the COVID 19 situation is that, where it stands at the moment, then South Africa requires no fewer than 1.5 million vaccines and that too immediately.

This is exactly the quantum of vaccines that need to be shipped to the country famously described as the Rainbow Nation.

But while the above is true, there also appears to be a lingering concern.

It appears that all the required quantum of vaccines haven’t been approved- and were in fact- rejected by the local regulator back in South Africa.

So now arises the most obvious question.

Now that South Africa has okayed the vaccines it has found currently being in operation in India, a country that happens to be its fifth-largest export destination, are we a whisker away from a new trade equation.

An equation where South Africa and India will be interacting closely on the matter of the COVID 19 vaccine?

Where it stands at the moment, then the Serum Institute of India is the box that has the right tick in that sense from the South African establishment.

Live Mint, as a matter of fact, even published in its recent report the following:

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Friday that the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has granted approval to the SII, which is producing the vaccine in collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, to supply the drug to the country.

Who knows but by as early as the end of this month itself, India could well be sending the required vaccines to South Africa, a country that lost no fewer than 40,000 lives to the Covid-19 situation as of 2020.

Also Read: How Many Lives Has Germany Lost To The Coronavirus So Far?

Let’s just hope that a fine decision is taken by both countries so that any tensity can be addressed sooner than later and that the vaccines get best utilized in due time. That being said, any economic transaction between South Africa and India at this time is still to be inked and if it happens, we shall hear about it in further breaking news developments.