Vaccination has become one of the important medical methods applied to curb the spread or eliminate the spread of diseases over the years. Key benefits of vaccination include saving lives, improving general health and life expectancy, and aiding socio-economic development. South Africa has also introduced many vaccines like HPV, Covid-19 vaccines to combat the spread of major diseases and illnesses in the region, some with success. The current study has been undertaken to evaluate the R&D Gaps for vaccine rollout in South Africa. A secondary research method through qualitative analysis of recent academic sources, journals, and news articles on the topic under study has been conducted to fulfil the aim of the research. The study shows that the vaccine rollout program in South Africa has encountered various challenges safety perceptions, vaccine hesitancy, getting access to healthy volunteers for clinical trials, communication issues, misinformation, and sustaining non-pharmaceutical interventions. There is thus the need for having structured policies in place to address such challenges.

Keywords: vaccine, South Africa, R&D, Covid-19