Johnson & Johnson - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Nigeria recalls J&J children’s cough syrup over toxic substance

Nigeria's health regulator is recalling a batch of Johnson & Johnson children's cough syrup after finding an unacceptably high level of a potentially fatal toxic substance, it said. Laboratory tests on Benylin Paediatric showed a high level of diethylene glycol, which has been linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022 in one of the world's worst waves of poisoning from oral medication. The syrup is used to treat cough and congestion-related symptoms, hay fever and other allergic reactions in children aged two to 12, Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and…

May

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Aspen COVID-19 vaccine plant risks closure after no orders, executive says

COVID-19

TIM COCKS AFRICA'S first COVID-19 vaccination plant, touted last year as a trailblazer for an under-vaccinated continent frustrated by sluggish Western handouts, risks shutting down after receiving not a single order, a company executive said. South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare negotiated a licensing deal in November to package and sell Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine and distribute it across Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) called the deal a "transformative moment" in the drive towards levelling stark inequalities in access to COVID vaccines. With only a sixth of adults in Africa fully vaccinated, according to the latest WHO figures from the end of…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria prioritising four COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19

NIGERIA is prioritising the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the official heading Nigeria's COVID-19 vaccination campaign has said, when asked whether the Sinopharm shot would be used in the country. Dr Faisal Shuaib, head of Nigeria's primary healthcare agency, said the Sinopharm vaccine had been approved by the national medicines regulator "for emergency use", but rolling it out was not a priority. "We don't want a situation where we may have 10, 20 vaccines that have been globally recognised or listed for emergency use, and then you want to take all 20 vaccines to Nigeria, it doesn't…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa’s COVID vaccine project takes a step forward with bottling agreement

COVID-19

FRANCESCO GUARASCIO SENEGAL’S Institut Pasteur of Dakar (IPD) has reached a deal with U.S. company MedInstill for the bottling of COVID-19 shots, an EU document shows, marking a step to becoming a fully-fledged maker of coronavirus vaccines for Africa. The European Union is a major financial backer of the project which aims to enable IPD to manufacture 300 million COVID-19 vaccines a year and reduce Africa's reliance on imported vaccines. IPD, however, has yet to secure a partnership with a COVID vaccine patent holder to produce shots. African countries have so far received a tiny portion of COVID-19 shots produced…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

African Union’s J&J vaccine shipments begin

COVID-19

MAGGIE FICK AFRICAN Union officials have revealed that the body had begun shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses acquired from Johnson & Johnson, but they raised alarm at the pace of total deliveries to a region where only 1.5% of people are fully vaccinated. The AU's COVID special envoy Strive Masiyiwa said the start of the J&J shipments marked a step forward for the continent of more than 1.3 billion people, but in a news conference, he called Africa's situation regarding vaccine deliveries a "crisis". Africa remains in the grip of a third wave of the pandemic, and in the past four…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria expects 29 million doses of J&J vaccines

COVID-19

NIGERIA expects to take delivery of 29 million doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in August, allowing it to ramp up its vaccination programme just as a third wave of infections takes hold, the health minister said. Africa's most populous country has recorded close to 171,000 cases of the virus and 2,132 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to official data, although the real figures are likely to be much higher as testing is patchy. The government had announced in March it was hoping to secure 70 million doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine this year through…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 SCIENCE: J&J shot recipients may need a booster, new advice on infected kids

COVID-19

NANCY LAPID THE following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. Johnson & Johnson shot may need boosting People who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may need a booster shot to fend off some of the worrisome coronavirus variants now spreading worldwide, a study suggests.A "significant fraction" of blood samples from recipients of the J&J shot had low neutralizing antibody levels against the Delta, Delta Plus, Beta and Lambda variants, according to a report posted on Wednesday on the medical website…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia to buy 3.5-million doses of vaccine

COVID-19

TUNISIA is to buy 3.5-million doses of COVID-19 vaccine directly from Johnson & Johnson, amid sharp criticism of the government for the slow pace of its vaccination campaign. So far, only about 592,000 Tunisians have received the two doses of vaccine in the country of 11.6 million residents. After successfully containing the virus in the first wave last year, Tunisia is grappling with a rise in infections. It imposed a lockdown in some cities since last week, but rejected a full national lockdown due to the economic crisis. In total, Tunisia has recorded 447,000 coronavirus cases and more than 14,000…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya to receive 13 million J&J shots

COVID-19

DUNCAN MIRIRI KENYA will receive the first batch of 13 million COVID-19 vaccine shots from Johnson & Johnson in August, President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced, helping to accelerate the country's vaccination drive. Like other nations on the continent, the East African country has struggled to secure vaccines for its citizens, to allow it to fully lift restrictions aimed at containing the pandemic. Only 1 million Kenyans, out of 47 million, have had a first jab and only 300,000 are fully vaccinated, according to the health ministry. As a result of the deal for the J&J shots and other initiatives, the…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

S.A assess efficacy of Sinopharm vaccine

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's health regulator has received documentation for China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and will evaluate the data to assess the efficacy of the shot. Now in the grip of a third wave of infections, South Africa is inoculating its population with Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines, but the rollout has been slow partly due to setbacks in supply. It has vaccinated just over 2 million people, 3.6% of its population, one of the world's lowest rates. Authorities have faced pressure from South African radical opposition party the Economic Freedom Fighters to authorise the use of Russian and Chinese vaccines…