SAHPRA

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has recommended that the government lift the pause on administering drug maker Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, given that certain conditions are met.These conditions include, but are not limited to, strengthened screening and monitoring of participants who are at high risk of a blood clotting disorder. Last week, South Africa suspended the rollout of the J&J vaccine in the “implementation study” on Tuesday, after health agencies in the United States of America recommended pausing its use because of rare cases of blood clots in six people inoculated with it, out of some seven million people who have received the shot in the country.To assist us on this we are joined by: Dr Fareed Abdullah from the Medical Research Council and Portia Nkambule, Chief Regulatory Officer at the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority.