South Africa’s drugs regulator SAHPRA said on Monday it has approved an implementation study of Johnston & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine but was still reviewing its full market application.
The implementation study will target inoculating between 350 000 to 500 000 health care workers, with the first batch of 80 000 doses expected to arrive this week, President Ramaphosa told lawmakers during the State of the Nation Adress (SONA) on Thursday.
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said J&J has not yet submitted an application for emergency use authorisation of its vaccine, as Africa’s worst-hit country with coronavirus infections and deaths has yet to start its mass inoculation campaign.
SONA Address
During his SONA President Ramaphosa urged different stakeholders to play a part in the vaccination programme.
“The success of the vaccination programme will rely on active collaboration between all sectors of society. We are greatly encouraged by the active involvement of business, labour, the health industry and medical schemes in particular, in preparing for this mass vaccination drive.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa is delivering the State of the Nation Address:
AstraZeneca
Government has placed a temporary halt in the roll-out of the AstraZeneca doses after studies indicated that the vaccine has 22% efficacy in preventing mild to moderate cases of the 501y-V2 variant in South Africa.
The Health Department was preparing to roll out the AstraZeneca jab to healthcare workers, after receiving one million doses by the Serum Institute of India last Monday. – additional reporting SABC
AstraZeneca not so effective against variant first discovered in SA:
