The SA Medical Association said there must be a choice of Covid-19 booster vaccine after Johnson & Johnson won the right to run research on the half a million health workers who took the company’s shot in an initial study.
The SA Medical Association has raised the ire of other health professionals by criticising the lack of choice of a booster vaccine for health workers. Nicholas Crisp of the health department said he was disappointed in Sama raising the issue. File photo.
Sama, said it is concerned because of potential evidence that a booster in the form of a messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA, vaccine such as those produced by Pfizer is potentially more effective than a second dose of a more traditional vector-based shot, such as that produced by J&J. The rollout of the booster trial began on Tuesday, and the addition of a choice would delay it by six weeks, said Nicholas Crisp, deputy director-general of the South African health department.
Because offering Pfizer as an alternative would set the process back “we elected not to go that route”, he said. “I actually am disappointed in Sama raising this.”
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