Future of J&J vaccines in SA hanging in the balance following FDA decision
The future of a large batch of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in South Africa is hanging in the balance.
This comes after news broke on Friday afternoon that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to discard about 60 million doses made at a troubled Baltimore plant because of contamination.
The US halted the roll out of the doses last month, casting doubt on the Gqeberha plant in South Africa.
Health officials in the country were hoping to get a decision from the FDA on the safety of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine by the end of this week.
Chairperson of the South African Medical Association (SAMA) Angelique Coetzee says it's unclear what the US verdict will mean for SA.
"We're still in the dark about the report of the FDA. We haven't had any official information received yet from the FDA," says Coetzee.
"It's extremely difficult if no one has seen the report yet and interrogate the information in that report and whether it would affect the South African J&J vaccines in Gqeberha.
"The simple answer is that we don't know."
At least 2 million doses are on hold in South Africa.
Some of the jabs have been earmarked for use on teachers across the country.
JUST IN: The New York Times is reporting that the FDA decided about 60 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine made at a troubled Baltimore plant must be discarded because of possible contamination.
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) June 11, 2021
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