South Africa receives Johnson and Johnson vaccine dose
After so much waiting, South African has become the first African nation to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The president has his ministers were the first to get the Johnson & Johnson jab.
Johnson and Johnson's vaccine arrive in South Africa
The government has flagged off its vaccination plan against the coronavirus by administering national health workers with the Johnson and Johnson jab. According to the reports, the first medical staff was given a jab around 2 pm on Wednesday at the Khayelitsha Clinic in Capetown.
This comes as about 85,000 vaccines from the vaccines arrived at Johannesburg’s Airport. South African leader, Mr. Ramaphosa with health chief Mkhize and deputy Joe Phaahla were among the first to take the jab.
'' This is a historic event in this country, as the first Covid-19 arrived today, and we have been given a shot '' President Ramaphosa said.
He said those who are afraid or skeptical about the potential of the vaccine should but be, as it is safe.
''South Africans should embrace this vaccine to ensure safety and protection from the coronavirus. ''
The Johnson vaccine becomes the first vaccine to be administered outside a trial
People can be seen offloading the pallets with the vaccine as they arrived Wednesday morning. This Johnson vaccine is the first vaccine to be administered outside a medical trial as hasn't been approved in any other countries.
This pharmaceutical firm has just applied for authorization in the US after conducting a successful pretrial which shows about 90 percent guard against most strains after jab administration. The FDA has said it will decide on February 27.
However, the South African health regulator has given the sanction to use it for implementation, however, it hasn't been approved for emergency use. This vaccine has 58% against serious coronavirus infection which may be caused by a recent strain, 501Y.Y2. These Janssen and the Novavax jab have shown good potency as revealed by trials done in South Africa.