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Bloomberg News reports that the SA Medical Association (SAMA), which represents doctors, said there must be a choice of Covid-19 booster vaccines for health workers.
The initial Sisonke trial, which gave SA health workers a vaccine ahead of a general rollout of the shots, will be extended with health workers offered a second Johnson & Johnson (J&J) inoculation, the government advised last month. SAMA said it was concerned because of potential evidence that a booster in the form of a messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA, vaccine such as those produced by Pfizer was potentially more effective than a second dose of a more traditional vector-based shot, such as that produced by J&J. SAMA asked in an open letter to Health Minister Joe Phaahla on Wednesday: "What is it that informs the decision to rollout the Sisonke phase 2 trial in isolation?" Will health care workers be given the right to choose which booster they choose to take?" Nicholas Crisp, deputy director general of the health department, said the rollout of the booster trial would begin on Wednesday and the addition of a choice would delay it by six weeks. That would mean that health workers wouldn’t get further protection ahead of a possible fourth wave of coronavirus infections. He added that a Pfizer boost trial might be carried out later. SAMA’s intervention has also created a rift with the SA Medical Research Association, which is working with J&J on the trial.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Antony Sguazzin at Fin24
- Lees ook, Sama eis antwoorde oor J&J-opvolgdosis, by Maroela Media
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page