Scientific advisors were currently looking at the change to the vaccination approach, and are expected “in the next few days to finalise” the new protocol, he said.
There are no plans for further vaccinations for children, said national health department child-health specialist Lesley Bamford.
“For now we are confident that two doses provide this age group (who are at low risk of severe disease) with adequate protection.”
Adults are expected to be offered booster shots before the end of January, and there should be no shortage of shots for those who want them. SA has some 10 million doses of the J&J vaccine available, and none of those expires until at least 2024, said Bamford.
The around 8 million Pfizer doses in the country are currently due to expire in March and April, but the government expects the shelf-life for those to be extended for at least another three months, so that they will only need to be destroyed towards the middle of the year.
Other changes to SA’s approach to the coronavirus were already approved by the coronavirus command council chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday morning, Phaahla said.
Those include a push for greater surveillance, with medical practitioners told to send samples for genomic sequencing any time they have a patient with a positive PCR test, to increase the pool of samples through which new sub-variants can be tracked.
Genetic sequencing is also due to be done on wastewater drawn from aircraft that arrive from China, and “possibly the US”, said Phaahla, as well as “any other country that emerges as [having] rising infections”.
That testing is expected to start by next week.
But the coronavirus council accepted advice that there is no need to impose any new restrictions on South Africans, or to travellers from China, said Phaahla.
The government is satisfied that reports of health facilities being overwhelmed in China are explained by a combination of the sudden removal of travel restrictions within that country and the low level of vaccination in especially rural towns and villages.
Worries about new Omicron sub-variants such as XBB.1.5 – which was detected in a South African sample dating from late December – have seen other countries impose restrictions or demand tests from Chinese travellers. But data so far suggests no increase in severity of disease or the rate of fatalities for those infected with newer sub-variants.
In response to the changing situation, South Africa will launch a campaign to “reinvigorate” vaccination efforts, said Phaala, while encouraging anyone with Covid-19 symptoms to present themselves for testing.