The national Department of Agriculture is bearing the costs of the vaccinations against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) that are now being carried out as part of the national vaccination campaign, says John Steenhuisen, Minister of Agriculture, following what he described as fake news on social media.
By Vida Booysen, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
On Wednesday, 4 March, Steenhuisen lashed out on social media platform X against the “the mischief maker in chief is up to his usual disinformation tactics on the price of FMD vaccines”. Steenhuisen says in his post the government pays for it and distributes it. “Fake news does not assist in combatting a disease outbreak, don’t get your news from fraudsters!”
When asked by African Farming who the “mischief maker in chief” is, his spokesperson referred to a post on X by Dr Theo de Jager of the organisation Saai. In it, De Jager says the “true cost” of the FMD vaccines from Argentina and Turkey amounts to about R45 per dose and that this is what farmers would have paid, provided that the state had not “seized” the vaccines. “Where do the profits go?” he asks.
Steenhuisen said at a media briefing in Bloemfontein on Monday farmers are not paying for the current BCG vaccinations. He added that, like last year, the government will allow a few industry organisations to buy vaccine if they want to proactively vaccinate – but it will then be at their own expense.
However, this will only happen later when the last five million doses of vaccine have entered the country.
Also read: FMD | ‘It’s an emergency situation’ – Steenhuisen on vaccination liability clauses
Steenhuisen and Elzabé Rockman, Free State MEC for Agriculture, visited the Glen Agricultural College outside Bloemfontein on Monday, 2 March, to see how cattle are vaccinated there as part of the national vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease.
They also met with local stakeholders in the agricultural sector and spoke at length with AFASA (the African Farmers Association of South Africa) and researchers from the University of the Free State about their proposals to bring the disease under control. Nico Fouché, CEO of Milk South Africa, also attended the event.
Free State Agriculture, which announced on the same day that it, together with the Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) and Sakeliga, had brought an urgent application in the High Court in Pretoria against the minister, was not present. The agricultural organisation advocates for farmers to have the right to obtain their own vaccine and vaccinate their animals against FMD.
Steenhuisen said 94 000 of the first 200 000 doses of Biogénesis Bagó vaccine against the SAT1 and SAT2 strains have already been delivered to the Free State provincial state veterinary teams.
“Our goal this year is to vaccinate 80% of our national herd and to reduce outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease by 70%. This will enable us to change our status with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) to FMD-free with vaccination,” said Steenhuisen.
Rockman said the distribution and administration of the vaccines in the Free State had already begun by Wednesday 25 February, after the vaccine arrived in the country on Saturday 21 February.
“We have a team of between 60 and 70 veterinarians, technicians and community veterinarians from the state who are doing the vaccinations, assisted by just over 60 private veterinarians. We are incredibly grateful for the help of our colleagues from the private sector who are doubling our capacity to reach as many farmers and farms as possible.”
Steenhuisen emphasised that the only way in which the red meat and livestock sectors can gain certainty about their future is if international markets reopen to South African red meat.
“This will only happen if we all work together to stop FMD. If we all throw our weight behind this campaign, this could potentially be the last outbreak we have in the country.”
Also read: FMD | Claims that farmers must pay or register for vaccines are false
Never again just one supplier of vaccine
South Africa will never again be dependent on just one vaccine supplier, Steenhuisen said.
“We were very disappointed when the vaccine supplier that South Africa had used for over 20 years, the Botswana Vaccine Institute, was unable to fulfil the Free State order and also the national order. Obtaining vaccines from Botswana makes sense – they are our neighbours and we will not close the door, but we had to look for vaccines in other parts of the world that would be effective against our FMD strains.”
Steenhuisen referred to the 1.5 million doses of vaccine that arrived in the country on Sunday (March 1) from the Turkish manufacturer Dollvet, and said the local company, Dunevax, which imports this vaccine, informed him that another 6.5 million doses were expected by the end of March.
A further 5 million doses from Biogénesis Bagó are also expected in the country by the end of the month.
This means his department will be able to achieve its goal for the year, namely to vaccinate 80% of our national herd, by the end of March, said Steenhuisen.
“These two large shipments will be supplemented by vaccines from Botswana when they are able to supply us again. We will also have the Agricultural Research Council’s increased production of 20 000 vaccine doses per week at our disposal. This means that a shortage of vaccine will no longer be an issue.”
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