South Africa begins vaccination with J&J shots, offers AstraZeneca vaccine to AU

*South Africa has taken delivery of the first consignment of J&J COVID-19 vaccine shots Tuesday night, as authorities plan to procure 20 million additional doses for immuinsation against the virus in the country

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Sequel to the arrival of a first consignment of the shots from the drug maker, the South African authorities will begin administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers Wednesday, February 17, 2021.

Glenda Gray, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of South African Medical Research Council, in an interview with broadcaster SAfm, said: “Health teams worked overnight to distribute the vaccines to most parts throughout the country. In Cape Town, vaccination will start at 12 p.m.”

It was gathered that the country received an unspecified number of the J&J vaccine shots Tuesday night, and is in talks to procure 20 million additional doses of the vaccine for immunisation of the people against the Coronavirus.

The process of vaccinating 40 million people, in order to achieve herd immunity in a population of 60 million, is expected to take 12 to 18 months, said Stavros Nicolaou, head of the health-work unit at lobbying group Business for South Africa, agency report said.

Nicolaou, who also heads strategic trade at Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited, said in an interview with radio 702 Wednesday, that “phase one is critically important. We need to vaccinate 1.3 million health workers before we get to the third wave.”

The country’s Health Ministry Tuesday disclosed South Africa had recorded more than 1.49 million Coronavirus cases, with a total of 48,313 deaths, the figures regarded as he most on the African continent.

Meanwhile, due to its reported efficacy concerns against the Coronavirus variant found in the country, South Africa Tuesday revealed that it would offer allotted doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to the African Union (AU).

Earlier, the country suspended its vaccine rollout — meant to begin with the AstraZeneca shots earlier this month — after a study found the jab failed to prevent mild and moderate illness caused by a variant found in South Africa.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize recently told the Parliament that “the doses we purchased have been offered to the African Union to distribute to those countries who have already expressed interest in acquiring the stock.

“There will be no wasteful and fruitless expenditure.”

The AU, through its African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), has secured some 270 million doses of anti-COVID vaccine for the continent, and last week said it would not “walk away” from the AstraZeneca formula.

It recommended countries where the South African variant has not been detected to proceed with the rollout going forward.

South Africa has now settled for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, of which it took the delivery Wednesday.

Vaccination will begin with healthcare workers as part of an implementation study, Mkhize said, AFP report said.

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