South Africa to give J&J vaccines to other African nations

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa will donate just over 2 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to other African countries to boost the continent’s COVID-19 vaccine drive, the government announced Friday.

The doses, worth approximately $18 million, will be produced at the Aspen Pharmacare manufacturing facility in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, and be distributed to various African countries over the next year, according to a statement.

“This donation embodies South Africa’s solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the continent with whom we are united in fighting an unprecedented threat to public health and economic prosperity," President Cyril Ramaphosa said in the statement.

“The only way in which we can prevent COVID-19 transmission and protect economies and societies on our continent is to successfully immunize a critical mass of the African population with safe and effective vaccines,” said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa is “ making good progress in his recovery from COVID-19 while continuing treatment for mild symptoms,” his office said in a separate statement Friday. Ramaphosa, 69, tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 12 and has been isolated at the official residence in Cape Town since then, with treatment by the South African military health service.

Ramaphosa is “in good spirits and comfortable in his recovery,” the statement said.

South Africa's donation will add to the more than 100 million vaccine doses that have been donated to the African Union’s African Vaccination Acquisition Trust. The African vaccination group has also purchased 500 million doses to be distributed to countries across the continent.

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