South Africa to dispose of 2 million contaminated J&J vaccines
13 Jun 2021 - 19:24
Bloomberg
South Africa will dispose of 2 million Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines following a U.S. ruling that ingredients for the country’s doses may have been contaminated during production in a plant in Baltimore, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The news marks a major setback in the country’s vaccine rollout just as a third wave of infections is gathering pace.
However, Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, Africa largest drugmaker, is set to begin the productionof new J&J vaccines by mid-week, Ramaphosa told reporters Sunday after he participated in the G-7 summit. He joined the meetings at the invitation of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for following a one earth, one health approach to effectively deal with the coronavirus pandemic globally, and sought the support of the G7 grouping to lift patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, during a virtual address at an outreach session of
Calling for global unity, leadership, and solidarity to prevent future pandemics, Modi also emphasised on the special responsibility of democratic and transparent societies to deal with the challenge, according to an official statement.