The government will offer additional Covid-19 vaccines to people with weakened immune systems from November 30, a move driven both by science and flagging demand for shots among the general population.
SA has amassed 16.8-million vaccine doses, enough to last more than five months (158 days) at the current vaccination rate and has asked Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer to postpone further shipments, according to acting health director-general Nicholas Crisp.
The stockpile includes 7.8-million J&J jabs, and 9-million Pfizer shots, and it has accumulated as deliveries arranged earlier this year continued to arrive even as SA’s daily vaccination rate plunged from a peak of 280,000 a day to a weekday average of 110,000.
SA currently offers the general population a single J&J shot, or two Pfizer jabs six weeks apart. But for people with an impaired immune system, who may mount a weaker response to Covid-19 vaccines, it will shortly provide a second J&J jab or third Pfizer shot, if requested by a patient’s doctor. Crisp said these shots were not considered boosters, but part of the patients’ primary vaccination schedule.
The designated groups will include people on long-term steroid or biologic treatment for auto-immune disorders, organ and bone-marrow transplant recipients, renal dialysis patients, and people living with HIV who have a CD4 count below 200, said Ian Sanne, CEO of Right To Care, which is supporting the government in the vaccine rollout.
“The additional doses are intended to bolster the immune response and ensure a better antibody and cell-mediated response,” he said.
Warning that a fourth wave of infections was “around the corner”, Sanne said it was imperative for unvaccinated people to get their Covid-19 shots as soon as possible. By Tuesday, SA had administered 24.9-million doses, but only 35% of the adult population was fully immunised. The vaccination rate is particularly low among people aged between 35 and 49, at 45%, compared with 64% among people aged 60 and above, he said.
The vaccination rate is also worryingly low among public-sector healthcare workers in Gauteng, where officials are closely monitoring a recent rise in coronavirus cases for signs of a resurgence.
Gauteng healthcare workers least protected
Gauteng’s healthcare workforce is the least protected in the country, with only 66% of staff vaccinated, according to figures provided by Crisp. Limpopo and the Free State lead the way, with 83% and 81% respectively, while the Western Cape has reached 78% of its healthcare workers.
Business for SA health chairman Stavros Nicolaou, who is also head of strategic trade at pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare, said it was clear the government would not meet its target of vaccinating 70% of adults by the end of the year. The daily vaccination rate was likely to slow after December 16, when large parts of the country go on holiday, he said, adding that B4SA was “aggressively promoting” vaccine mandates and initiatives to restrict access to venues such as sports stadiums only to people who had been vaccinated.
Nicolaou said most of the J&J vaccines bottled at Aspen Pharmacare that had been bound for SA would now go to the rest of the continent. Deliveries to SA would most likely be deferred until the first quarter of 2022.
Vaccines packaged at Aspen’s plant are part of the AU’s agreement to buy 220-million doses from J&J. A Pfizer spokesperson said: “We remain adaptable to individual countries’ vaccine requirements while continuing to meet our quarterly commitments as per the SA supply agreement.”
With Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.