South Sudan’s health ministry has begun the rollout of the single dose Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.
The fact that patients don’t need to make return visits for a second jab, as with the other vaccines, makes it easier to ensure that people are protected.
South Sudan received the first consignment of just over 150,000 J&J doses in September. They were donated by the US government through the Covax initiative and make up the biggest consignment yet.
More than 80,000 people have been vaccinated using the Oxford AstraZeneca jab. But the large majority of people who were covered were men.
Dr Victoria Anib Majur, from the health ministry, urged women to get the vaccine which she said was “safe and effective”.
“I want to… refute rumours which say that Covid-19 vaccination causes infertility,” she said.
Less than 1% of the population have been vaccinated against coronavirus so far.
“The Johnson & Johnson vaccine really is a game-changer for South Sudan – because it’s a single dose vaccine and it will be able to be deployed outside to remote areas,” said William H. Boyle, the US acting deputy head of mission in Juba said.
BBC
