This archive report was first published on 26 June 2021.
June 26, 2021, Pretoria, South Africa - Thousands of South African opposition activists gathered in Pretoria to call for a faster coronavirus vaccination rollout in the continent's worst-hit country.
With less than four percent of the population inoculated, protesters are pushing for regulators to approve more vaccines and speed up the pace of inoculations to get people back to work and kickstart the economy.
Julius Malema, leader of the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters, told supporters, 'Our agenda is simple, give our people vaccines, we want to open our economy.'
South Africa is the continent's worst-hit country, with over 1.8 million cases and more than 59,000 deaths. Most of those who have received jabs have been the elderly and healthcare workers.
The Economic Freedom Fighters are also pushing for the use of Chinese and Russian vaccines, warning they would stage a sit-in at the home of the regulator's chairwoman if it did not approve the emergency use of the jabs within seven days.
Health ministry officials have announced that there are enough jabs in the country, despite the destruction of two million J&J shots due to contamination fears.
