South Africa on Monday took delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement, marking a sharp contrast with Nigeria whose hopes of getting the critical remedy still hangs in the balance.

Mr. Ramaphosa posted a video on Twitter Monday evening that showed the consignment arriving in an Emirates flight with the caption: Arrival of the first consignment of #COVID19 Vaccines #WeChooseVaccination.

“Today marks a major milestone in our fight against the #coronavirus pandemic as we receive our first consignment of the vaccine. This batch will benefit our healthcare workers who have been at the forefront of keeping us all safe,” the South African said in a follow-up tweet. 

South Africa’s Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize had on Sunday revealed that the country, one of the worst-hit in Africa, recorded 4,525 new Covid-19 cases and 213 deaths over the previous 24-hour period.  

But Nigeria has yet to take delivery of any vaccines, despite being the largest economy on the continent with the virus setting daily records in recent weeks. 

The “politics and logistics due to no fault of Nigeria,” was a major cause for the delay, information minister Lai Mohammed said in a statement to NAN this weekend. “The fact that these vaccines will now come in February is not due to Nigeria’s fault.” 

“We are very ready to receive the 100,000 doses and we have the infrastructure, even when it is going to be preserved at about -70 Degree Celsius,’’ he said. 

Mohammed also added that it would take two years to vaccinate 70 percent of Nigeria’s estimated 200 million people. .

Last week, state health minister Olorunnimbe Mamora said the country had no budget for COVID-19 vaccine for 2021. His comments came barely two days after finance minister Zainab Ahmed made a similar disclosure about budget constraints.

Still, administration officials insisted Nigeria will start taking gradual delivery of coronavirus vaccines later this month.