The South African Finance Ministry spokeswoman told Sputnik the potential $1.3 billion national campaign to vaccinate citizens against the coronavirus, voiced by the National Treasury chief, was just an estimate and the exact costs have not been determined yet
JOHANNESBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2021) The South African Finance Ministry spokeswoman told Sputnik the potential $1.3 billion national campaign to vaccinate citizens against the coronavirus, voiced by the National Treasury chief, was just an estimate and the exact costs have not been determined yet.
Dondo Mogajane, the director-general of the National Treasury, said on Wednesday, that the country could spend between 20 billion and 24 billion rands ($1.3 billion to $1.6 billion) to vaccinate around 40 million people against COVID-19. The Ministry of Finance spokeswoman, Mashudu Masutha-Rammutle, said the treasury chief was responding to a question making the rounds in the media space.
"We have not determined the exact amount. The R20 billion is just an estimate," Masutha-Rammutle said.
At the same time, the opposition Democratic Alliance's Shadow Finance Minister Geordin Hill-Lewis said this estimate was too high.
He told Sputnik that millions of South Africans are going to pay to get vaccinated through medical aid.
"The R20 billion estimate is too high. We as the DA estimate around R13 billion, the government must be realistic," Hill-Lewis retorted.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, South Africa has registered over 1.4 million COVID-19 cases, including 42,550 deaths.
