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Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said South Africa would instead launch a vaccination campaign with injections of Johnson & Johnson.
South Africa plans to swap its doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and start its inoculation campaign with injections from Johnson & Johnson instead, the health minister said.
The country, most affected by the pandemic in Africa, has suspended its vaccine rollout which was due to start this week with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a study found the vaccine failed to prevent mild illness and moderate caused by a variant found in South Africa nicknamed 501Y.V2.
The vaccination delay delayed an ambitious plan to vaccinate around 40 million people – 67% of the population – by the end of 2021.
“In view of the results of efficacy studies [the government] will continue with the planned phase one vaccination using the Johnson & Johnson vaccines instead of the AstraZeneca vaccine, ”Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
“The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been shown to be effective against the 501Y.V2 variant.”
He did not say when the vaccination would start.
Authorities are also deciding the fate of more than one million Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines already obtained from the Serum Institute of India (SII) and which will expire at the end of April, although that date may be adjusted.
Mkhize highlighted several options, including selling or exchanging doses with countries tackling the original strain of coronavirus.
“Based on their advice, the vaccine will be traded before the expiration date,” he said, adding that “there are already countries asking to sell them.”
“Our scientists will continue their deliberations on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in South Africa,” Mkhize explained.
Local vaccine production
South Africa was slow to grasp the global vaccine rush and received its first jabs, a million AstraZeneca shots, on February 1 alone.
500,000 additional doses have been purchased from the IBS and are expected to be delivered this month
Mkhize said the government ministerial advisory committee should be able to give thoughtful advice on how to deal with AstraZeneca vaccines within the next week or two, adding that the government has also obtained doses of Pfizer vaccine for them. health workers.
Negotiations with Moderna, Sinopharm in China and on the Russian vaccine Sputnik V are continuing.
Officials previously said the country had obtained nine million single doses of J&J, and Mkhize said a deal could be finalized soon.
The J&J vaccine was 89% effective in preventing serious disease and 57% effective against moderate to severe disease in the South African part of a global trial.
Ninety-five percent of the infections observed in the local study were due to the 501Y.V2 variant first identified at the end of last year.
The 501Y.V2 variant has alarmed health experts who have expressed concerns about its ability to potentially evade the immune response generated by previous exposure to the coronavirus or vaccines.
South Africa’s neighbor eSwatini, previously known as Swaziland, also said on Tuesday it would not use the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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