Interesting statistics have emerged from DSV’s fight against the spread of Covid-19 in South Africa, with the freight forwarder laying claim to distributing 16 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine in a year.
In a statement sent to Freight News, the Danish multinational said the vaccines it had distributed so far represented 50% of all Pfizer doses distributed in South Africa.
“The mass rollout of vaccinations started in mid-May, 2021,” the statement says.
“DSV Healthcare was awarded the tender (jointly with The Biovac Institute) from the National Department of Health (NDoH) to distribute the -70°C vaccines jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to multiple private and public vaccination sites around the country.”
The stats paint an interesting picture of vaccine uptake across the country, with the Western Cape leading by more than four million and Gauteng tailing by just under four million.
“KwaZulu was third highest with 2.2m doses, thereafter the Eastern Cape with 1.5m then Limpopo with 1.2m. Provinces where under one million doses were distributed included North West (667 000), Free State (632 000), Mpumalanga (597 000), and Northern Cape (218 000).”
DSV adds: “The majority of the vaccine doses (see graph and table below) were distributed during the severe third wave (Delta variant), from May 2021 to September 2021, with the peak in June and July 2021.
“Distribution volumes in November and December 2021, during the more infectious but significantly less severe fourth wave (Omicron variant), were significantly down.
Distribution volumes have been relatively consistent in the first four months of 2022, although increased positivity rates in May could increase the vaccine demand.
Since last year’s Delta peak in August and September, demand has dipped significantly, driving down distribution.
Be that as it may, DVS says that “the vaccination drive has succeeded to the point where the distribution and availability of vaccination doses have exceeded demand, despite initial media and social media debate that South Africa would not be able to distribute vaccines at -70°C.”
