South Africa will move forward with its phase one vaccination program to inoculate its health care workers with the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, though the vaccine has not been granted an emergency authorization usage. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Feb. 10 that the country could no longer wait to immunize its health care workers as the J&J vaccine has “proven effective” against the highly transmissible B.1.351 variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus—which causes COVID-19—that was first identified in the country in November 2020. The one-dose J&J vaccine was found to be 57 percent effective against moderate to severe illness due to the B.1.351 variant. It also protects against severe disease, hospitalization, and death, according to unpublished data presented on Feb. 7. One-third of the volunteers in the J&J vaccine trial were aged 60 and older, and about 41 percent had comorbidities. Zweli said the “rollout …