Health Minister Zweli Mkhize is set to announce the recommencement of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine programme after Cabinet agreed to lift the suspension of the programme on Wednesday.

This was said by the Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni on Thursday.

According to News24, Ntshavheni said the programme would continue as soon as the department was ready.

Cabinet made the decision to lift the suspension on Wednesday, during its first physical meeting since the outbreak of COVID-19.

The minister of health announced the temporary suspension of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine rollout in South Africa – as a precautionary measure – last week after the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) indicated that blood clots had been discovered in six female recipients in the United States of America.

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“We have noted the decision taken by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States of America to advise the temporary suspension of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine rollout.

“This has occurred due to reports of 6 females who developed unusual blood clots with low platelects. These incidents occurred between 6 and 13 days after vaccination in women between the ages of 18 and 48 years,” Mkhize said at the time.

By mid April, South Africa had already administered the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to almost 300 000 healthcare workers under the Sisonke Protocol.

“In South Africa, we have not had any reports of clots that have formed after vaccination, and this is after having inoculated 289 787 healthcare workers under the Sisonke Protocol,” said Mkhize.

Picture: Cape Town etc gallery

ALSO READ: SA suspends rollout of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

SA suspends rollout of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

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