The South African health regulatory body recommended the government to lift the temporary ban on the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccines, given that certain conditions are met, reported Reuters.
“These conditions include, but are not limited to, strengthened screening and monitoring of participants who are at high risk of a blood clotting disorder,” the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) noted in a statement on Saturday.
The health regulatory body called for implementation of measures to ensure the safe management of any participants who develop vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT).
Last week, the South African government had announced the voluntary suspension of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the country while blood clot cases were getting examined.
The decision was taken after the Food and Drug Administration recommended halting its use because of rare cases of blood clots in six people inoculated with it, out of some 7 million people who have received the shot in the United States.
SAHPRA said on Wednesday that it had recently reviewed data from Johnson & Johnson’s local research study immunising healthcare workers and found no major safety concerns. Notably no blood-clotting cases have been reported among the nearly 300,000 health workers who were vaccinated in South Africa before the suspension. All the cases of blood clot-related complications have been reported in the US.
The use of J&J vaccine in the U.S. continues to be on hold after experts said they don’t have enough evidence to change their stance. A U.S. panel is expected to meet again next week to discuss whether the use of the vaccine should resume or not, after delaying a vote on the matter earlier this week.
South Africa, the worst-hit African country in the pandemic, has so far reported over 1,566,769 coronavirus cases with more than 53,736 deaths and 1,490,143 recoveries.
