The move comes after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was temporarily suspended due to a possible link between the vaccine and blood clots.
South Africa has announced that it will resume its vaccination rollout with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine following a temporary suspension for a possible link between the vaccine and blood clots.
The one-shot vaccine will be administered again from Wednesday.
He was put on hold after six people in the United States developed post-inoculation blood clots, which prompted the United States government to briefly suspend its use.
“It has since been established that there is a one in a million chance of contracting the clot after the vaccine and that it appears that women between the ages of 18 and 48 are particularly at risk,” read a statement from the South African Department of Health. published Monday.
“With such a low probability of developing a clot, all regulators around the world have recommended that you continue to use Johnson and Johnson.”
Today, we are pleased to announce that, following the SAHPRA recommendation on April 17, 2021 and Cabinet approval on April 21, 2021, vaccine deployment will resume through the Sisonke program on Wednesday April 28, 2021. #vaccine #VaccineRolloutSA pic.twitter.com/wOrZ68THaz
– Department of Health (@HealthZA) April 26, 2021
The ministry also said South African regulator SAHPRA has added a requirement that all participants be made aware of the potential risk.
The South African government has said the country now has enough vaccines to immunize 500,000 out of 1.2 million health workers.
Much hope has been placed on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to roll back the pandemic in developing countries as it is only a one-time shot that does not need to be stored at ultra-high temperatures. bass.
For South Africa in particular, the vaccine represents a key part of its national rollout as the country had previously ruled out the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a small study found it was less efficient in the prevention of mild to moderate illnesses caused by local variant dominant in South Africa.
According to US data presented on Friday, out of 3.9 million women who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 15 developed serious blood clots and three died.
The majority of confirmed cases, 13 out of 15, were under the age of 50. No cases have been reported in men.
South Africa has officially recorded more than 1.5 million cases of the coronavirus, including 54,000 deaths.