South Africa Health Minister confirms that its front-line health workers are to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Earlier on, the 1.25 million health workers were under the AstraZeneca vaccine schedule. However, the ministry has decided to give the yet approved J&J vaccine to see the benefits the vaccine offers. The results will be important as they will reveal the effectiveness the vaccine possesses to fight off the new deadly coronavirus variant. South Africa is hopeful for positive feedback from the administered shots to help end the new variant. The decision leaves the AstraZeneca vaccine from being distributed.
The J&J vaccine over AstraZeneca vaccine
Although the J&J vaccine is still awaiting approval, South Africa believes it is safe. This decision is based on the findings from the 44,000 people already under the vaccine from South Africa, United States, and Latin America. Zweli Mkhize, the South Africa Health Minister, further affirms that the vaccine has proven effective on the new variant. As a result, Mkhize states that negotiations to use the vaccine are already in play.
He further confirms that clinical tests have already been done, and the Production process is set to begin. Of course, with permission from the J&J. Although the AstraZeneca vaccine proves to be cost-effective, the new variant reduces its health effects on the virus. Furthermore, South Africa states that the drugs come with an expiration date of April 30. Hence the need to swap the vaccines. Moreover, the vaccine requires two shots for a single dose, compared to the one-shot of the J&J vaccine.
South Africa Vaccination Campaign
The country had already purchased 1.5 million AstraZeneca Vaccine from the Serum Institute of India. The first million batches of the vaccine arrived this month. All of which were to be administered to the health workers of South Africa before the change to the J&J vaccine. South Africa hopes to vaccinate 40 million people towards the end of 2021.
Other vaccines that will be administered include the Pfizer vaccine, Russian Sputnik V, Chinese Sinopharm, and Moderna. South Africa records the highest corona infections on the continent. So far, the country is at 1.5 million infections and 47,000 deaths. A figure that accounts for 41% of the total in the whole of Africa. The new variant certainly took a toll on the country, hence its new surging corona cases.
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