The Department of Agriculture announced that a shipment of more than one million foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine doses would be arriving from Biogénesis Bagó in Argentina. The department also stated that a further five million doses were expected to arrive in the Republic in March.
The arrival of the vaccines formed part of the department’s plan to centralise vaccine distribution under national government control, as it sought to vaccinate the entire national herd of more than 14 million cattle.
The decision to centralise distribution was criticised by several farming organisations, with some indicating they might challenge the move in court. These groups argued that allowing private procurement would significantly speed up the vaccination process.
Speaking to VOC News, Bennie van Zyl, General Manager of TLU SA, welcomed the arrival of the vaccines but maintained that greater private-sector involvement was necessary to protect the national herd.
“TLU South Africa is thankful for every single dose of vaccines that arrives in our country regarding foot-and-mouth disease. We still have serious concerns about how this process has been handled. We believe there should be far greater participation from the private sector to roll out the programme more effectively. We have already learned that state capacity alone cannot fulfil this duty,” van Zyl said.
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