Johnson & Johnson Vaccine: 1st Batch Arrives, SA Questions Expiry Date

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 8:15 AM by Reeshni Chetty

- The first batch of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine arrived in SA on Tuesday night

- Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize and the SA Government shared the news through Twitter

- South Africans want to know when this batch of vaccines will expire, following the issues with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

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The first batch of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has arrived in South Africa. Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize announced through Twitter on the evening of Tuesday, 16 February that the Covid-19 vaccine is now in the country.

The Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport. The vaccine doses have reportedly been transported to a secure facility in Gauteng ahead of distribution.

The distribution will happen overnight and the vaccine doses will be sent to vaccine centres in all provinces. South Africans are now concerned about the vaccines' expiry date due to the issues with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

Read also

SA to return batch of AstraZeneca vaccines as Covid19 cases decline

First batch, Johnsons and Johnsons, arrive, South A reacts — The first batch of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines have arrived in the country and SA has had different reactions. Image: @GovernmentZA
Source: Twitter

Take a look at Dr Mkhize's tweet below:

Below are a few of the responses from South Africans:

@Sele_Lesh asked:

"Roll out already tomorrow? What happened to them being verified first? Why different from the other?"

@mokgehle_ettien wrote:

"No presidential convoy to welcome it?"

Take a look at the South African Government's tweet about the arrival of the vaccine below:

Most South Africans seemed to be concerned about the vaccines' expiry date. Read some of the tweets below:

@renold_webster said:

"Don't forget to check the expiry date."

In other vaccine news, Briefly.co.za reported that South Africa will be returning the AstraZeneca vaccine. The vaccine managed to record positive results across the globe but failed to prevent infections in the 501Y.V2 variant that has become dominant in SA.

The Serum Institute of India, which had produced the batch of vaccines that arrived in SA, is anticipated to collect the consignment. The vaccines in question will then be redistributed to nations where this variant isn't dominant.