This worked great, thank you.
For others addressing the same problem:
I had to keep logging out of WordPress after every step in the -Update Visual Composer instructions, for the changed to take effect.
So I updated the theme, and logged out. Then deactivated the WPBakery plugin and logged out. Then again, deleted the plugin and logged out. Finally, at the next login, I saw the option to intall the WPBakery plugin, and then activated it. This got the Visual Composer working.
Thanks Mihaila, and Codeless team.