South Africa to vaccinate athletes ahead of Tokyo Olympic games
The HinduSouth African athletes due to participate in this year's Tokyo Olympics will receive COVID-19 shots during a vaccination rollout that has so far prioritised the elderly and frontline workers, the country's medicine authority said on Tuesday. READ: In a statement, the South African Medical Research Council said it had been granted permission by the Health Product Regulatory Authority to make available to the athletes the remaining Johnson & Johnson vaccines left over from an earlier "Sisonke Study" rollout before they expire. "By them receiving the Sisonke vaccine, the Pfizer doses allocated to them will go to ordinary citizens of our country and thus will free up additional doses for our country," said Gray. READ: South Africa has been the hardest hit country in Africa by COVID-19, with well over 50,000 deaths and 1.5 million confirmed cases.