It will be at a fixed price of Rs 300. The Johnson & Johnson third dose will be rolled out in six clinics as from 1st December. Initially, each clinic will receive 1000 doses of this vaccine from the Ministry of Health.
Administration in early December
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been chosen for administration in clinics because its storage is less demanding. The Pfizer product has to be stored at -70°C and transport should be more meticulous. Administration will begin later this week after all clinic staff have completed their third dose.
Available in 6 clinics
The price of Rs 300 has been fixed as it will cover the clinic’s service charges. The clinics concerned are Welkin Hospital, Bon Pasteur Clinic, Darné Clinic, C-Care Grand Bay, C-Care Cap Tamarin and Shifa Clinic. The administration will be done by appointment, which must be made online. Note that these inoculations will only concern the booster dose so the interested party will have to provide proof of the two previous doses.
Democratisation has its price!
Democratisation towards clinics has its price. The vaccine costs Rs 300 but this only represents the service charge. If the vaccine was not donated by the Ministry, the price would have been higher, as is the case with PCR tests with the starting price of Rs 2100 which can go up to over Rs 3000 depending on the clinic. In terms of PCR, there are even very advanced services, such as Drive Thru, which does not require the patient to get out of the car. The mobile staff moves and takes the sample in the car park. After Wellkin Hospital where this service, by appointment, has been practiced for a while now at Rs 2250, C+S Health Diagnostic Center in Forbach also offers a similar service at Rs 2200 without the requirement of an appointment in advance.
C12 detected in Mauritius?
This is a statement from the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). The C12 variant, that was detected last August in South Africa, has already migrated to Portugal, England, Switzerland, Portugal, China, New Zealand and even Mauritius. It is considered very dangerous with a higher transmission capacity than the Delta variant. The C12 variant is under analysis by the World Health Organisation. However, no communication from the Mauritian Ministry of Health has been made so far.
