DURBAN - THE national Department of Health announced yesterday that Covid-19 booster shots will be available at the end of December for Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients who received the jab at least two months ago and for those who got their second Pfizer jab six months ago.
South Africa has joined countries across the world that have introduced booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines in a bid to ward off infections from the Omicron variant.
According to statistics from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, there were 21 157 new Covid-19 cases registered last night, with 5 241 coming from KwaZulu-Natal, followed by 4 597 in the Western Cape and 4 206 in Gauteng.
While data remains limited, half a dozen laboratory studies have shown that an initial course of Covid-19 vaccines was not enough to halt infection from the Omicron variant, but a booster shot may help.
“Booster doses are the same vaccine in the same dose administered to people who have had a primary vaccination series and are administered to allow the body to boost its immunity to the Covid-19 virus,” said the department.
Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said: “According to scientific evidence, boosters are needed at some stage of the pandemic, especially due to emerging new variants. Booster doses are safe and provide protection against severe infections, they enhance protection against infection, severe disease and death.
“They reduce transmission in public and private spaces.”
Noting that the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine as a booster of the primary Pfizer vaccine two-dose series some time ago, the department said Sahpra had also approved the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for boosters.
However, the department said immunocompromised people would receive an additional primary Pfizer dose, after their third dose.
This means it was recommended that an immunocompromised person who received two primary Pfizer shots, 42 days apart will receive one additional shot 28 days later and one booster shot after a further 180 days, which equals four jabs in total.
According to the department, the Pfizer booster was approved for the vaccination of people six months after the administration of the second dose and would be available from December 28.
“From December 24, 2021 the national vaccination programme will provide J&J booster vaccinations to anyone who received their last dose at least two months prior (October 24, 2021),” it said.
But the department said while the recommended interval was two months, it should preferably be six months after the primary Johnson & Johnson dose.
Meanwhile, the government has been urged to adopt messaging strategies that address individuals’ concerns that drive vaccine hesitancy.
Academics John A Joska, Stephan Rabie and Goodman Sibeko, attached to UCT’s department of psychiatry and mental health, have penned a journal-published article that dissects the failure of current communication strategies to encourage people to vaccinate.
The article dealt with research among a sample of women in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.
It found that more than 80% reported fear of side effects as being the major obstacle to vaccination.
Among their findings was that “negative messages” such as that people should vaccinate to reduce chances of hospitalisation and death due to Covid-19 also did not work.
They proposed that the government’s communication strategies should be based on the Motivational Interviewing (MI) approach.
“A key approach to MI and using cognitive dissonance is to ensure that the messaging is positive and responsive to prevailing concerns impacting the current position,” the academics wrote.
THE MERCURY