South Sudan to receive 168,000 doses of J & J on Tuesday

By Tapeng Michael Ohure

South Sudan is expected to receive 168,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines on Tuesday, WHO official reveals. 

Speaking to journalists in Juba on Sunday, WHO COVAX coordinator Dr. Brendan Dineen said the J & J vaccine would arrive in the country on Tuesday.

“The briefing to know is that on Tuesday, we will receive  another 168,000  vaccines of Johnson and Johnson. The vaccines are almost finishing in some locations in the country. So, having  vaccine to arrive on Tuesday, we will  re-supply parts of the country with Johnson and Johnson,” Dineen announced.

The COVAX  Coordinator Brendan Dineen says about145,000 people are already vaccinated with Johnson and Johnson.

For his part, Dr. John Rumunu the Director General for Health Emergency Preparedness and Covid-19 Acting Incident Manager

“South Sudan is not insurgence, however, we are on alert as our 7 days moving case count is around 11 to 12 cases per day. We continue to advise everyone to avoid overcrowding, use facemasks, wash hands and use hand sanitizers regularly and maintain social distance,” Rumunu advised.

In the past 24 hours South Sudan confirmed 6 positive cases bringing the cumulative confirmed cases to 12,819  and 12,463 recoveries including 133 deaths. The country recorded 68 confirmed cases in the past one week.

Dr. Kibebu Kinfu Berta,  the Epidemiologist at the WHO says South Sudan recorded a decrease in covid-19 cases in the past few days.

“We are also following what is going on in South Sudan, but still we have seen a few number of cases in the past week and there is no any upsurge of cases. In fact it has reduced in the past few days though there was an increase in the past weeks but now the number has decreased,” he said.

Berta also said Over 40 countries are affected globally with omicron virus including some African countries.

WHO officials say the  Delta variant is still the dominant variant that causes a lot of mortality cases.