Second batch of J&J vaccine arrives in South Africa

By
CGTN Africa
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In this photo illustration a Johnson & Johnson logo is seen in front of a medical syringe and a vial with coronavirus vaccine. Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
South African Airways Airbus A330 (A330-243) airplane as seen on 19 November 2019 at Munich International Airport MUC EDDM named Franz Josef Strauss, Flughafen Munchen, capital of Bavaria, Germany. The aircraft has the registration ZS-SXX with 2x RR jet engines. South African Airlines SA SAA SPRINGBOK is a state owned flag carrier airline of South Africa, Star Alliance member headquartered in Airways Park at O.R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg JNB hub. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

South Africa received its second batch of COVID-19 vaccines early Saturday morning aboard a South African Airways flight.  The 80,000 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will bolster the country’s vaccination drive.

South Africa had earlier planned to use the AstraZeneca vaccine and had purchased and received 1 million doses.

But then a small, preliminary study showed that the AstraZeneca vaccine provided only 22 percent protection against mild to moderate disease caused by the COVID-19 variant now dominant in South Africa.

The second batch of vaccines is been reserved for frontline health care workers.

The single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been shown to be 82 percent effective in preventing severe illness from the coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa.

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