S. Africa begins vaccinating healthcare workers

Johannesburg, Feb 17 (IANS) South Africa on Wednesday inoculated healthcare workers at the Khayelitsha Hospital in Cape Town, marking the launch of the nationwide Covid vaccination programme, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.The vaccine they used are from Johnson & Johnson of which South Africa received late Tuesday night at the OR Tambo airport, Xinhua reported.The Johnson vaccine would be able to treat patients with 501Y.V2 variant which has become dominant in a number of provinces.Mkhize said the AstraZeneca vaccine which arrived in January would be offered to the African Union (AU) due to its limited efficacy against the dominant variant.He said South Africa would receive 9 million of doses from Johnson & Johnson in total. With 80,000 have arrived yesterday, 500,000 are set for arrival in March.
--IANS int/