Go 15 April 2021

GO! & EXPRESS 15 April 2021 For all your advertising needs call Cheryl on (043) 702 2031 or Yaneliseka (043) 702-2122. Find us on Facebook 5
Mooiplaas resident ‘has been
abandoned’ 17 months after fire
SIPHOSIHLE DYONASE
Mooiplaas resident
Xolisile Sam says they
have been abandoned
by the government.
He claims that he has
received no assistance from the
department of social
development since his home
burned down last year in a fire.
“It has been 17 months since
Great Kei Municipality mayor asked to provide RDP houses
I lodged a complaint with the
department of social
d e ve l o p m e n t ,” Sam said.
He added that when
his rondavel burned down,
he lost all his clothes as well as
building materials.
“We experienced
❝ It has been way over
a year since I lodged
a complaint with the
department of social
development
overcrowding as I shared a
house with my older brother,
who is mentally ill, as well as
my son, who was hospitalised
after smoking drugs.”
Sam said that he also had to
regularly deal with people
stealing his belongings.
He said that people were
stealing from his 71-year-old
mother, Nokaunti Sam.
“One morning someone
stole my mother’s money and
she complained she couldn’t
buy even a single chicken. I
need to help my mother find
external support so that she can
forget about what is happening
in her own household.”
Sam said he had met with
the local Great Kei Municipality
mayor Ngenisile Wellington
Tekile to request the delivery of
RDP houses in his community.
The department of social
development could not be
reached for comment at the
time of going to print.
SA to halt J&J vaccines over blood clot fears
STAFF REPORTER
SA will suspend the rollout of
the Johnson & Johnson Covid-
19 vaccine over blood clot
fears.
Health minister Dr Zweli
Mkhize made the
announcement at a media
briefing on Tuesday night after
the US Food and Drug
Administration advised a
temporary suspension of its
rollout of the J&J vaccine after
six women developed “unusual
blood clots” within two weeks
of receiving the shot.
“We cannot take the
decision of the FDA lightly.
We ’ve voluntarily suspended
the rollout until the causal
relationship between blood
clots and the vaccine has been
i n t e r r o g a t e d ,” he said.
Mkhize hoped this would be
done within “a few days”.
Co-principal investigator
Prof. Glenda Gray on Monday
night said under the Sisonke
WORDSMITHS
implementation study, no cases
of very rare blood clots have
been detected in SA healthcare
workers who have received the
J&J Covid-19 vaccine.
By April 12, 289,787
healthcare workers had been
vaccinated in the first phase of
S A’s Covid-19 vaccination
programme, Mkhize said.
US federal health agencies
recommended pausing the J&J
Covid-19 vaccine after six
recipients developed a rare
disorder involving blood clots.
The move comes a week after
European regulators said they
had found a possible link
between AstraZeneca-s Covid-
19 vaccine and a blood clotting
problem that had led to a small
number of deaths.
J&J's single-dose vaccine
and AstraZeneca’s low-cost
vaccine are seen as vital tools in
the fight against a pandemic that
has claimed more than three
million lives.
“We have noted the decision
taken by the FDA to advise the
temporary suspension of the
Johnson and Johnson vaccine
rollout in the US,” said Mkhize.
“Blood clots occurred
between six and 13 days after
vaccination in women between
the ages of 18 and 48. It must be
noted that over over 6.6 million
citizens have been inoculated
with the J&J vaccine in the US.
In SA, 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,” he added.
An advisory committee to
the US Centre for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
will hold a meeting on
Wednesday to review the cases
linked to the J&J vaccine, and
the FDA will review the
analysis, the agencies said.
All six recipients were
women between the ages of 18
and 48, and the symptoms
occurred six to 13 days after
va c c i n a t i o n .
In the cases, a type of blood
clot called cerebral venous
sinus thrombosis was seen in
combination with low levels of
blood platelets
(thrombocytopenia). The CDC
and FDA said the adverse events
appeared to be extremely rare.
J&J said it was working
closely with regulators and
noted no clear causal
relationship had been
established between the events
and the Covid-19 vaccine made
by its Janssen unit.
One woman died and a
second has been hospitalised in
Nebraska in critical condition,
the New York Times reported,
citing officials.
As of April 12, more than 6.8
million doses of the J&J vaccine
had been administered in the
US.
J&J shares were down 3%
before the opening bell.
Mkhize shared what he said
was good news for South
Africans.
“I am glad to say, however,
that there is good news in the
midst of this development.
“I am happy to announce
that we have successfully
negotiated another 10 million
doses from PEzer and, of these,
we expect just under two
million to be delivered in May.
This means we have secured 30
million doses of PEzer vaccine for
this Enancial year. This reassures
us that, in the extremely unlikely
event that the J&J rollout is
completely halted, we will not
have any impediment to
proceed with phase two of the
rollout with PEz e r.” - Ti m e s L I V E
SMS
EVER HOPEFUL: The Valley recently held their quiz evening which saw team ‘The Hopefuls’
taking first spot. Pictured from left are teammates Liz Hooper, Yvonne Everts, Des Schulze and
Mary Thompson Picture: LINDA PENHALL