News24 reports that Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Wednesday that SA’s stock of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine would be swapped out, and phase 1 of the country's vaccination plan would commence with the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine.  

Government has temporarily delayed the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in SA after trial data showed it was less effective against the dominant Covid-19 variant in the country.  Mkhize said on Wednesday that government's rollout plan would resume once it had received vaccine doses from J&J.  He estimated this could be as soon as next week, but said the date would be announced by Cabinet.  SA received its first million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at the beginning of the month.  The vaccination programme – the first phase of which will target healthcare workers – was set to start this week.  The government has confirmed that it has secured nine million doses from J&J. Along with the J&J and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines, SA has secured 12 million vaccine doses from Covax and 20 million from Pfizer. Mkhize added that the government was in advanced stages of discussion with the manufacturers of the Sputnik vaccine, and that engagements with Sinopharm in China were also underway, although the government has entered into a non-disclosure agreement around the discussions.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicole McCain at News24

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