South Africa gets more vaccines from US amid ongoing surge

South Africa will this weekend receive 2.2 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses donated by the United States to add to the 5.6 million doses it received from the U.S. in July

JOHANNESBURG -- South Africa will this weekend receive 2.2 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses donated by the United States to add to the 5.6 million doses it received from the U.S. in July. The new doses come as the country continues to battle an extended resurgence of COVID-19 infections and is racing to vaccinate 67% of its 60 million people by February next year. They are expected to be delivered on Saturday, South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said during a weekly COVID-19 briefing. South Africa has already purchased 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The country has also bought 31 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which are being delivered in large shipments from overseas and from a manufacturing plant in South Africa.