Part of the problem is that Ramaphosa's "plan" is still, quite mystifyingly, given serious credence by reports and graphics like this. As if it is still an actual thing that might happen. As if we haven't already seen the entire house of cards collapse these past 4 months. https://twitter.com/miamalan/status/1380117450096803841

There is no vaccine plan beyond fantasy stuff served to journalists at pressers, who then diligently go and transcribe this onto eye-catching graphics for the We Are Led audience. The giveaway is actually contained in these very graphics. Let's explore a few, shall we?

Exact dates are never known. That way you can never miss exact deadlines. This ever-shifting goalpost - unquestioned by most of the media - buys Ramaphosa just enough credibility to fudge his way through another month or two of no vaccines.

"Are expected"? They're either confirmed or they're not. And "between July and early 2022" is a hell of a long time. No way that anyone can get pinned down with some accountability on that kind of timeframe.

"If all goes according to schedule"

And if all doesn't, then we just invent another timeline with different quantities and different dates. The important thing is that no one can be pinned down here, while still maintaining the illusion of doing something.

"They're planning to do 50,000 vaccinations of high-risk people per day."

When this plan "kicked off" (spoiler: it didn't) in January they were "planning on doing 120,000 per day". Anyone know how that's going? It's not going at all, that's how.

And then the fine print*:

*Translated: "There's a real chance we'll not get anywhere near these quantities on these dates, in which case we'll blame vaccine apartheid and scold the selfish countries who went out and bought the stuff when we did nothing for six months."

Followed, of course, by an admission that, like the TV show Whose Line is it Anyway, everything is made up and the facts don't matter.

That was our vaccine plan, but it's clearly fantasy, so stand by for our next vaccine plan. Wash, rinse, repeat.

All along Ramaphosa, Mkhize & Mabuza are reported on by the media as if all of this is real and credible and on the verge of actually happening. And when it doesn't we're all supposed to be gobsmacked at the baffling unfairness of it all.

It's not unfair, it's just incompetent.