At yesterday’s COVID-19 vaccination drive at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) the Ministry of Health said that the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) single-dose shot was among the jabs in use.
A notification on the Ministry’s Facebook page said that the first-dose vaccines available were Sputnik V, Sinopharm and Johnson and Johnson.
The use of the J&J shot yesterday was the first publicly announced utilisation of the vaccine in the city. Previously, the ministry had said that the 34,000 shots procured via the African Union platform would be employed mostly in the interior areas since only one shot would be required for full vaccination and health workers would not have to revisit the area.
The J&J shot could become of even greater interest to the populace if the US does not recognise the Sputnik V vaccine for travel purposes. Washington is set to announce next month which vaccines it will consider for the purposes of deeming persons to be fully vaccinated. Only fully vaccinated persons will be let in to the US from next month. Johnson and Johnson has been approved for use in the US and since it only requires one dose for full vaccination there will likely be great interest in this vaccine among those who may want to travel to the United States.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca vaccines are no longer being offered as first doses as the ministry only has sufficient numbers remaining to provide a second dose.
