The fight against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is gathering pace with the arrival of another batch of vaccines and the acceleration of provincial vaccinations.
Some two million doses of the Dollvet vaccines arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday, Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen announced in a statement.
“I am also pleased to announce that the Agricultural Research Council bottled 20 000 vaccines on 12 June 2026 with the process commencing for the bottling of another 20 000 before the end of June, which will bring our local production to 40 000 for the month.
“It remains imperative that we continue with the provision of a consistent supply of vaccine provision,” he said.
The total number of vaccinations has eclipsed five million with the Free State the second province to reach the one million vaccination milestone.
The total number of vaccinations per province are as follows:
• Eastern Cape: 891 924
• Free State: 1 015 020
• Gauteng: 351 945
• KZN: 1 163 193
• Limpopo: 357 045
• Mpumalanga: 531 096
• North West: 753 522
• Northern Cape: 114 071
• Western Cape: 309 044
“We will continue to work closely with the provinces and reiterate our call for faster vaccinations. It is also important that the feedlots utilise their allocations in order to keep the economic value chain going.
“I have also engaged with my Department and requested them to expedite the Section 9 Report which should reach my Office within the next day or two in order to bring additional reprieve to our farmers,” Steenhuisen added.
The Minister thanked stakeholders for working together with the department to vaccinate at scale.
“The goal must remain: to work together to vaccinate as many cattle as possible as quickly as possible in order to end the current outbreak and place us on the path to ensuring that this is the last major outbreak of FMD in South Africa,” Steenhuisen said. – SAnews.gov.za
