The news in brief
A corrected immunisation notice clarifies that newborn vaccination and later repeat or catch-up decisions follow different rules.
The Essential Drugs Programme issued an erratum after finding an error in the primary-care immunisation chapter on BCG in infants living with HIV. The notice replaces the affected guidance and separates the initial dose from repeat and catch-up vaccination (Erratum: PHC immunisation BCG guidance).
The corrected text covers vaccination at discharge, the clinical situation of infants in neonatal units, and additional criteria for later doses in children living with HIV. It also calls for expert assessment where other immune deficiencies are suspected or confirmed. These distinctions need clinical assessment. Families should not read a general exclusion in an older table as the complete current recommendation (Erratum: PHC immunisation BCG guidance).
The circular says the corrections had not yet been incorporated into the complete guideline editions planned for November 2026. This is why a later erratum can matter even when a clinic is using the latest complete book. BCG concerns tuberculosis, and the notice does not establish a universal hepatitis B birth-dose programme (Erratum: PHC immunisation BCG guidance Adult Primary Care 2026).
Going further
This news item is part of a broader topic, which our page South Africa: pregnancy, HIV and STIs and periods covers in detail.
Read the page: South Africa: pregnancy, HIV and STIs and periods