South Africa approves Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine use, sticks to budget stance despite student protests

*While the finance and higher education ministers are working out how to access additional money, the budgetary framework will not be compromised ─South African Deputy Finance Minister David Masond

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

South African regulators have approved the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE for local use.

Observers have described the country’s latest measure as a boost to a national rollout that’s going slower than initially planned, agency report said.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, in a statement Tuesday, March 16 said that the decision was conditional on the outcome of tests to check the shot’s efficacy against a variant identified in the country late 2020.

The government has ordered 20 million Pfizer vaccines, though they had yet to be delivered as of earlier this month.

South African Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla has said that a vaccine shortage means the country is likely to miss its target of vaccinating as many as 1.5 million people by April 2021.

Students protest against poor funding of universities in South Africa

Meanwhile, as the student protests continue in the Southern African country, the South Africa Government has stuck to its budget stance, insisting that education subsidies will not compromise fiscal framework.

ConsumerConnect had reported that subsequent to apparent poor funding of universities, a South African student movement planned to shut down the country’s 26 public universities until the government meets demands.

The protesting students’ demands include clearing debt and allowing free registration for the 2021 academic year.

It was gathered that measure follows a weekend meeting of the South African Union of Students after protests on campuses, including the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg last week left a person dead.

However, Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo in an interview Tuesday, March 16 said South Africa is committed to consolidating debt and fostering economic growth, even as it faces pressure to increase funding for universities and raise civil servants’ wages.

Masondo stated: “Everything is going to be funded within the current fiscal framework.

“Unavoidable funding pressures will be financed through expenditure reprioritisation.”

Report says Masondo’s comments underscore a shift in policy that became evident in last month’s annual budget.

It backtracked on plans to raise personal taxes and switched focus to boosting consumption and private investment to shore up an economy that contracted the most in a century in 2020 because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Funding for higher-education institutions was cut by 8 billion rand ($535 million) over the next three years in the budget, as the Treasury signaled its intention to narrow the fiscal deficit and contain debt by reducing expenditure, according to report.

The cabinet has pledged to make additional funding available to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme last week, after students staged protests in several towns to demand free education and the write-off of their outstanding fees in the country.

The Deputy Finance Minister, nonetheless, said while the finance and higher education ministers are working out how to access additional money, the budgetary framework will not be compromised.