Health department dismisses meeting cancellation claims with Covid-19 vaccine producer

The Department of Health has dismissed claims that it cancelled a meeting with a company that is producing a vaccine, The Citizen reports.

This is after an article published by News24 on Wednesday, January 6, stated that Johnson & Johnson had initiated discussions with the department around its Covid-19 vaccine.

In a statement released on Thursday, the department’s spokesperson Popo Maja noted the article was “completely false”.

“The Department of Health responded to a meeting request by Johnson & Johnson less than an hour after it was received and a meeting was thereafter set within that same week.

“The departmental officials have been meeting Johnson & Johnson regularly since the first meeting.

“The article quotes a mysterious “insider” with knowledge of the initial meeting between Johnson&Johnson and officials from the Department of Health, who said the company was allegedly “disappointed” with the level of discussion and questions asked by health officials,” he said.

Maja said the attendees were in agreement that the meeting was cordial and several meetings followed to finalise terms of an agreement between both parties.

He further said that negotiations were at an advanced stage between the department and the company.

“The Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on Covid-19 Vaccines is, and has always been, encouraged by Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine candidate and its potential applications in a South African context. Negotiations between both parties are now at an advanced stage, and developments will be announced soon.

“Publishing inaccurate information only adds to growing public anxiety around increasing Covid-19 cases and vaccine supplies.

“We urge the news media to verify their sources and the information they provide so as to not further contribute, knowingly or unknowingly, to the spread of Covid-19 misinformation,” he concluded.

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