SAA flight en route to Belgium to collect second batch of J&J COVID-19 vaccines
The next batch will arrive in South Africa on Saturday and will push the total number of doses received in the first phase of government's rollout program to 160,000.
JOHANNESBURG - A South African Airways (SAA) flight is en route to Belgium to collect the country's second batch of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
Over 40,000 healthcare workers have already received the jab in the implementation study.
The next batch will arrive in South Africa on Saturday and will push the total number of doses received in the first phase of government's rollout program to 160,000.
On the way to Brussels to collect vaccine and other cargo pic.twitter.com/V2vKtXLGS4
Minister of Transport |Mr Fix (@MbalulaFikile) February 25, 2021
On the way to brussels to collect vaccines and other cargo. pic.twitter.com/RFbE4nlhgH
Minister of Transport |Mr Fix (@MbalulaFikile) February 25, 2021
The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)'s Professor Glenda Gray said that this was truly a remarkable moment for the country.
"I did email Paul Stoffels to ask him if he had a million doses lying around and they were wonderful. Obviously, Paul Stoffels worked in Africa, so they started to look for vaccines all over the world and repatriate the vaccines back to Belgium and get them to us. It was amazing."
The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced that the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine was safe and effective for use, paving the way for its approval for emergency use.
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