South Africa has launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign using Johnson & Johnson jabs, after the rollout was delayed over concerns the Oxford-AstraZeneca formula would not protect against a widespread variant.

A nurse at a hospital in Khayelitsha township in Cape Town was the first to be immunised, hours after the first batch of 80,000 doses landed in the country late on Tuesday, AFP reported.

She looked relaxed as she received the jab, which was broadcast on live television.

South Africa took delivery of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines at an event closed to the press, a departure from the fanfare two weeks ago when it received the Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs.