COVID-19 has raised public awareness about the role of national medicines regulatory authorities in enabling access to safe, effective and quality-assured medicines. This includes vaccines. ANDY GRAY, Senior Lecturer, Division of Pharmacology, University of KwaZulu-Natal In South Africa, the pandemic has also exposed a number of important misperceptions, among the public and health professionals. The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority is responsible for monitoring, evaluating, investigating, inspecting and registering all health products. These include medicines for human and animal use, medical devices and diagnostic tests. The authority is an independent structure, located outside the Department of Health and the…