
Image: Esa Alexander/Sunday Times
President Cyril Ramaphosa and health minister Zweli Mkhize will be among the first citizens to get inoculated with the newly acquired Johnson & Johnson vaccine which arrived in South Africa on Tuesday night.
“To demonstrate our confidence in this vaccine and help allay any fears that people may have, the minister of health and I will join the first health-care workers to receive the vaccine in Khayelitsha,” said Ramaphosa in a statement on Wednesday.
The president announced that the first batch of 80,000 doses of the vaccine are being prepared for distribution across SA with immediate effect.
“As this batch has already been approved by the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) under the Sisonke protocol, these vaccines will be rapidly dispatched to all provinces,” he said, adding that most vaccination centres would be ready from Wednesday to begin the vaccination programme.