Hearings into COVID-19 vaccination of children between 12 and 17 set down for May

The hearings of the Appeal Committee on the vaccination of children between the ages of 12 and 17 have been postponed to the 31st of May. Non-profit organisation, Free the Children Save the Nation, brought forward an appeal to challenge the decision by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) to administer vaccinations to children.

The proceedings, which were set for Friday and Monday, failed to kick off after Sahpra said it was not ready to proceed due to its counsel having joined the matter late.

The appellants were also not ready as they were still waiting for the regulator to disclose some documents.

“Neither the appellant nor the respondent is actually ready to commence the appeal today, nor will they be ready to commence on Monday the 14th. It seems, therefore, we should make an order adjourning the proceedings to a later date. The applicant requested that the proceedings be adjourned for a month, but ultimately it might work better if they have more than a month to get their house in order. The ruling, therefore, is that the appeal is postponed up until the 31st of May,” explains Chairperson of the Appeal Committee, Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi.

VIDEO: COVID-19 – Appeal Committee hearings on the vaccination of children: Adv Tembeka Ngcukaitobi