JOHANNESBURG - As president of South Africa since 2018, Cyril Ramaphosa has dutifully delivered his annual address before Parliament, outlining government priorities in the year ahead. Before speaking, he led the assembly in a moment of silence for the more than 47,000 people who have been killed by the virus since it landed in South Africa last year. However, on Thursday, Ramaphosa revealed some encouraging progress on his top priority: the government has secured 9 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The first batch of 80,000 doses will arrive in South Africa next week, he said, with another 420,000 doses due in the next month. Additionally, he said, the government has secured 12 million vaccine doses through the global COVAX facility, and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has committed 20 million doses of its vaccine.

Source: Ethiopian News February 12, 2021 21:11 UTC