South Africa’s suspension of its two-month-old nationwide coronavirus vaccination programme that relied on the Johnson & Johnson dosage was not necessary at all, according to a South African Medical Association (SAMA) senior official on Monday.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize last week announced the suspension following the United States government’s health authorities’ discovery of rare blood clots in six Americans who had taken the J&J vaccine, one of whom later died from the complications.
Responding to the minister’s and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA)’s decision to suspend the vaccinations, SAMA has urged the government to lift the suspensions and resume the rollout as soon as possible.
“We think it was not necessary for us to stop vaccinating, especially because we had no (blood clot) cases reported in South Africa.
“Even those who had vaccinated reported minor ailments but not to an extent that is reported in the US,” SAMA Vice Chairperson Mvuyisi Mzukwa said.
Mzukwa said South Africa should continue with the vaccination programme “because we want to avoid people getting sick and hospitalised.”
According to Mzukwa, now that the SAHPRA had recommended that the government should lift the suspension in administering US-made Covid-19 vaccine when certain conditions are met, it should at the quickest time possible resume the programme to contain the pandemic.
In its latest recommendation, the SAHPRA advised the health ministry to include strengthened screening and monitoring of participants who are at high risk of a blood clotting disorder when they resume the vaccinations.
These measures must be implemented “to ensure the safe management of any participants who develop vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (which occurs when blood platelet count is low, thereby failing to stop or prevent a person from bleeding),” the SAHPRA said.
The research authority’s recommendation came following its recent review of data from J&J’s local research study of immunising health care workers — and found no major safety concerns, the research authority noted.
NM/jn/APA