South Africa to spend up to R19.3-billion on Covid-19 vaccine roll-out

South Africa could spend as much as R19.3-billion over the next three years to vaccinate most of its population against Covid-19, national treasury said in a budget presented to parliament on Wednesday.

The 2021 budget allocates R1.3-billion for vaccine purchases in the current fiscal year, which ends next month, while R9-billion is earmarked for the roll-out over the medium term.

“Given the uncertainty around final costs, an estimated R9-billion could be drawn on from the contingency reserve and emergency allocations, bringing total potential funding for the vaccination programme to about R19.3-billion,” treasury said.  — Reported by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Mfuneko Toyana and Wendell Roelf, (c) 2021 Reuters