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South Africa has suspended plans to vaccinate healthcare workers with the AstraZeneca vaccine after a limited clinical trial found it to be ineffective in preventing mild to moderate symptoms of the Coronavirus circulating in the country.
South Africa received its first million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine last week and is expected to start administering the first dose to health workers in mid-February.
The first disappointing results indicate that the vaccine may not be helpful.
The results of the trial, which have not yet been reviewed, indicated that the AstraZeneca vaccine offers minimal protection against “mild and moderate” symptoms of corona in young people exposed to the new strain of the virus in South Africa. .
The University of Oxford Witwatersrand in Johannesburg said in a statement that protection against more severe symptoms of the disease could not be assessed in the trial because participants were at low risk.
Health Minister Zwaili Mkhize said on Sunday evening that infection rates from the new strain are higher, as it currently accounts for more than 90% of Corona cases.
The developers of the AstraZeneca vaccine expect to achieve an adjusted dose to deal with the South African strain of the Corona virus by the fall, according to the company’s chief researcher.
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