South Africa has stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine after data emerged showing that it provided minimal protection against the South African coronavirus variant, which is currently dominant in the country.
Reuters reports that Health Minister Zweli Mkhize made the announcement on Sunday after disappointing results from a trial conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
The media reported that the South African government had planned to launch doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday, but that it will now offer the vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.
“The AstraZeneca vaccine will stay with us … until scientists give us clear directions on what we need to do,” Mkhize said.
The South African variant of coronavirus is thought to be more infectious and the data suggest that it is more resistant to existing vaccines than the previous strain of coronavirus. Vaccines created by AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna are believed to be effective against the UK variant.
The announcement comes a day after Sarah Gilbert, Oxford University’s best vaccine researcher, said a modified version of the AstraZeneca vaccine would be available in the autumn that would be effective against the South African strain.
“This year we hope to show that the new version of the vaccine will generate antibodies and recognize the new variant. And then it will be very similar to working on flu vaccines, so people will know the idea that we need to have new components, new strains. to the flu vaccine every year, “Gilbert told the BBC on Saturday.
According to Gilbert, the new modified version will require less time and less clinical trials than the original vaccine.