Why the J&J vaccine is SA’s best hope

A year into the coronavirus pandemic, elderly people most at risk of death from Covid-19, still stand in long, crowded queues in SA to access their social grants.

If the government is struggling to ensure monthly grant distribution is safe and automated, imagine the logistical difficulty of giving two doses of a vaccine, weeks apart, to millions of people in far-flung areas. To smooth the path of vaccinating 40-million people — the threshold government is aiming for — it would seem logical to try use a vaccine that is administered just once...