Cape Town - THE health portfolio committee has backed the decision by the National Treasury to allocate billions of rand to fund vaccines.
This comes as the flight to fetch Johnson & Johnson doses in Brussels is expected to land at OR Tambo International Airport tomorrow.
The flight left South Africa on Wednesday and this will be the second batch of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson to be delivered.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the government wanted to inoculate 1.1 million people by the end of March.
Already thousands of healthcare workers have been given the vaccine jabs.
Chairperson of the portfolio committee on health Sibongiseni Dhlomo said the R10 billion allocated by National Treasury to procure vaccines was important.
He said this would intensify the fight against the spread of Covid-19.
Dhlomo said the virus had killed thousands of people and they wanted to reduce the numbers.
“In conducting its oversight work and holding the executive accountable, the committee will ensure that the funds are used appropriately,” said Dhlomo.
In the Budget allocation the government has also increased the funds in contingency reserves from R5bn to R12bn.
This is due to the uncertainty about the virus.
Political Bureau