Edit... Dina El Sheriff

South Africa has allocated an additional 4 billion rand ($276 million) for the purchase of corona vaccines and a special distress grant for thousands of people affected by the epidemic, in a special allocation bill submitted by the Minister of Finance.

The bill, which is expected to be discussed with the National Treasury at a parliamentary committee meeting later today, devotes an additional 1.25 billion rand to the Ministry of Health for the purchase of Corona virus vaccines, and another 2.82 billion rand for social development for the emergency grant of 350 rand per capita.

South Africa - the continent's most affected country in terms of reported corona virus infections and deaths - is struggling to launch a comprehensive vaccination programme, vaccinating just over a 329000 health workers with the Johnson & Johnson dose as part of a research study.

It ordered 31 million doses of J & J single-shot vaccine and 30 million doses of Pfizer vaccine, sufficient for a total of 46 million of its 60 million inhabitants.

It should be noted that it received its first weekly payment of the Pfizer vaccine, last Sunday, and the US pharmaceutical giant is expected to ship 4.5 million doses by June.