While thousands of health workers are expected to get their Covid-19 booster jabs from today, some have mixed feelings about being made “guinea pigs” again as the country prepares for the fourth pandemic wave.
Today, the Sisonke vaccination programme will launch the roll out of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) boosters to health workers who received the J&J jabs between February and May. It is still unclear when the boosters will be made available to the public and whether it will include Pfizer as an option. Health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said such announcements will be made public later.
Mohale said, however, that mixing of vaccines will be discouraged.
“For now we don't mix vaccines due to different side effects and other factors, but if there is sufficient scientific evidence to allow us to mix vaccines, we can safely do that. But remember one J&J vaccines dose is equivalent to two Pfizer doses, which become tricky to mix them,” said Mohale.
SA Medical Association (SAMA) chairperson Dr Angelique Coetzee said it would have been ideal for health workers to be given an option to choose their booster.
“It is important for the public to get an opportunity to choose which booster jab they want. For example, some people could have experienced severe illness or adverse reaction with J&J when they vaccinated earlier in the year, I wouldn’t expect them to choose J&J again as a booster. They are mostly likely to want to try out Pfizer out of fear of getting sick again. Government should give people a chance to choose which booster they want,” she said.
For now J&J is the only jab that has been approved by the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) as a booster. Coetzee said it was important for health workers to get booster jabs.
“It is important for health workers to get the booster because data has showed us that after six to eight months the vaccine loses its efficacy and health workers could be susceptible to infections, especially with the fourth wave likely to hit us by the end of the year or beginning of 2022. They need to be vaccinated at least a month before we get another wave,” said Coetzee.
Health workers who spoke to Sowetan said they were concerned about not being given a choice.
*Nomcebo, a frontline worker at Johannesburg’s Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, said she had always been sceptical about getting jabbed because of religious reasons but she decided to put aside her convictions in April and got the J&J shot.
“I had to take time off from work because I became too ill and my body was reacting to the jab. I decided to take it because I understood its importance. However, considering my previous experiences, I would have appreciated if I was given a chance to try a different brand as a booster. I feel like we are being used as guinea pigs because we were the first ones to be vaccinated and now we are also the first to get the boosters,” said Nomcebo.
*Thembi, a nurse at Baragwanath Hospital, said she was looking forward to get the booster despite not having been taught about it by her employer. “I don’t know what to expect in terms of possible side effects, but I will do anything to protect my health,” she said.
Sibongiseni Dlelihlazo, spokesperson for the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) said though they appreciated the booster jab, the health workers felt that they were being compromised because of the delays in achieving herd immunity.
“Had we reached the herd immunity, it wouldn’t have been necessary to get the boosters. We health workers are paying the huge cost because of the delays. We hope that the boosters will only end with us and not go to the general public,” said Delihlazo.
Dr Michelle Groome from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said it was key for the government to prioritise unvaccinated people who are at risk of contracting severe diseases.
“There are still individuals that are hesitant to vaccinate and we need to ensure that concerns about vaccination are adequately addressed so that everyone can make a decision informed by the correct information,” said Groome.
*Not their real names
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