South Africa is on track for rollout of the second phase of vaccinations in May, and the government is expecting the arrival of around one-million vaccines later this month.

In a news interview on Thursday morning, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the country was expected to take delivery of one-million vaccines from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in the second half of April.

He added that a further shipment of around 900 000 vaccines would follow in May and a third shipment in June.

Added to this, the country can expect more than five-million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to arrive between April and June, as well as more than a million doses that were sourced through Covax.

Mkhize added that the Pfizer vaccine would be administered in a short trial, similar to the Sisonke project through which the J&J vaccine is currently being rolled out. This will allow an observation study to monitor breakthrough infections.

The minister stressed that South Africa’s vaccine rollout was on track. He added that the rollout had been delayed after it was found that the 1.5-million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, which South Africa initially procured, was less effective against the predominant Covid-19 variant in the country.

However, he said, the first phase of the rollout was planned for three months and would conclude in May. He added that there would likely be an overlap of the first and second phases of the rollout.

Mkhize said the government was in the process of signing an agreement with Pfizer for 20-million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. This would add to the additional nine-million the government was procuring from J&J.

"South Africans should be assured that everything is on course,” Mkhize said.

"The fact that we've started vaccinations does not stop the third wave. The [Easter weekend] restrictions have really been in appreciation that our numbers have been low, but we must still [remain cautious]. We need to vaccinate as many people as possible to stop the spread of the virus."