Finance minister Tito Mboweni has granted indemnity to two vaccine manufacturers to date, the Serum Institute of India, which will supply SA with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and Pfizer, the Treasury confirmed on Tuesday.
Governments across the world are being required to take liability in the event of serious adverse events that arise from Covid-19 vaccination. This is unusual, as pharmaceutical companies usually take liability, which they insure themselves against, but this has not been possible in the light of the scale and novelty of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, online news and commentary site Maverick Business published an article claiming that resistance by the Treasury to signing indemnity clauses was holding up procurement. The Treasury released a fact sheet later in the day disputing this and outlining the indemnity process.
Vaccine procurement contracts are signed between the department of health and the medicine manufacturer, while the Treasury must provide concurrence to the indemnity clause through exempting the contract from liability provisions in the Public Finance Management Act.
“The National Treasury engages with the department of health on an ongoing basis during the finalisation of the vaccine agreements, particularly in respect of the indemnity provisions to facilitate conclusion of agreements. The National Treasury is seeking to ensure that the issue of indemnity does not delay the vital procurement and rollout of vaccines,” the Treasury said.
Deputy President David Mabuza also announced that on Thursday he will convene consultations with traditional leaders, interfaith leaders and Nedlac on government’s rollout plan for the vaccination programme.
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