By CGTN Africa
South Africa has temporarily suspended the rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, its health minister said on Tuesday, after U.S. federal health agencies recommended pausing its use because of rare cases of blood clots.
“We have determined to voluntarily suspend our rollout until the causal relationship between the development of clots and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is sufficiently interrogated,” Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the pause there was expected to be a matter of days. Six women under age 50 developed rare blood clots in the United States among more than 6 million people given the J&J shot so far.
Mkhize said that although no blood clots had been reported among vaccinated citizens in South Africa, the FDA’s advice should not be taken “lightly
“I had urgent consultations with our scientists, who advised that we cannot take the decision by the FDA lightly. Based on their advice, we have determined to voluntarily suspend our rollout until the causal relationship between the development of clots and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is sufficiently interrogated,” Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.
He said there had not been reports of such clots in South Africa after almost 290,000 vaccinations.
The second phase of the country’s rollout plan, which will target essential workers and the over-60s, is scheduled to begin on May 17.
Officials had already been forced to scrap plans to start vaccinating with the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab after a study suggested the formula was less effective against a dominant local virus strain.
So far, South Africa has secured 31 million doses from J&J and 30 million from Pfizer, the first batch of which is scheduled to be delivered in early May.
Another 1.2 million doses will be donated by the international vaccine sharing facility Covax, and an undisclosed amount from the African Union.
South Africa has secured more than enough doses to vaccinate 40 million people — roughly 67 percent of the population — by the end of 2021, said Mkhize.
Even in the “extremely unlikely event” that the J&J rollout is “completely halted”, the arrival of the Pfizer jabs would allow the second vaccination phase to begin on time, he added.
The latest developments “provide comfort that medical authorities keep a vigilant watch on new products”, he argued, calling on citizens to remain calm and patient.
South Africa is the worst-hit country on the African continent in terms of recorded coronavirus infections and deaths. It suffered a severe “second wave” of infections that was driven by a more infectious virus variant called 501Y.V2.
(With input from agencies)
