Fewer South Africans fully protected than first thought, due to J&J vaccine

The department of health have to correct their figures that 35.6% of the adult population is vaccinated, since the rest of the world does not consider the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine which led the first wave of vaccinations in the country as sufficiently effective.

Despite the slight uptake of Covid vaccinations in Gauteng in the past week, the realisation that the single-dose J&J jab requires a second booster shot has messed with the country’s official vaccination figures, as this required correction means that total inoculation rate are lagging behind even further than initially estimated.

While Gauteng is already in its fourth wave along with KwaZulu-Natal, it now appears the country is even further behind the targeted figure of 70% of the adult population being vaccinated by the end of the year.

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As of 5 December, 26.3 million vaccines have been administered but seven months into the vaccine programme, only 35.6% of adults are considered to be fully vaccinated. 17.6 million people are still awaiting their required second dose.

But while the J&J vaccine was initially praised for only requiring a single shot, vaccinologist at Wits University Professor Shabir Madhi said this has since proven to not be enough.

This means that 6.4 million of the adults who got the single-dose jab were not fully vaccinated.

“35% of adults are not fully vaccinated. They should correct that in the first place. The single dose of the J&J jab does not mean being ‘fully vaccinated’ and the department of health should stop considering it to be that, because no one else in the world considers the single dose of the J&J as being ‘fully vaccinated’,” he said.

International vaccine expert Professor Helen Rees agrees, saying it is likely to be the norm in future for the J&J jab to require a second dose.

“If you look at the data, although a singe shot of J&J will prime the immune system, a second shot really gives a big boost to the immune system. It sustains it and lasts for months. I think the evidence would support that.”

Rees, who is also chairperson of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), said such data needs to be submitted to SAHPRA to be reviewed and considered.

“In that regard, SAHPRA is collecting data in the Sisonke study. Certainly, from the laboratories, a second dose of J&J after a first dose is very good for the immune response and causes a sustained immune response,” she said.

With Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal already starting to administer these second doses of vaccines, the national vaccination figures, however, fluctuate wildly. For example, just more than 57 000 people were vaccinated between last Thursday and Friday. The day before, however, nearly 150 000 people arrived for the vaccinations.

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“It’s inconsistent. There might be a slight increase in vaccinations but I think certainly not to the extent that we require it to be at… I think the root causes of this is a combination of inadequate planning, coupled with hesitancy because of the spread of misinformation, coupled with lack of trust in government and lastly, apathy. Many people in South Africa simply do not understand and are sceptical of the need to be vaccinated,” said Madhi.

Government has since introduced its Vooma Weekends, and this week the initiative hopes to increase vaccinations by increasing vaccination sites.

When the country will reach the targeted 70% is still, however, not known, said Madhi.

“It depends on what government does, including if they will be adopting a policy of mandatory vaccinations. It also depends on the structure of communication. There is no way to predict,” he said.

rorisangk@citizen.co.za