South Africa Confirms Causal Link Between Death and COVID-19 Vaccine

A healthcare worker administers the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to a woman outside a polling station at the Kopanong Hall in Soweto, South Africa, on Nov. 1, 2021. Michele Spatari/AFP via Getty Images

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) on Thursday confirmed that a person died as a result of the COVID-19 vaccine.

SAHPRA’s chief executive officer, Dr. Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela, said this was the country’s first death causally linked to an individual and Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine.