During an information session on Sunday, dr. South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the hold would be temporary, while scientists found out how to best use the AstraZeneca vaccine. Mkhize said South Africa would continue to develop vaccines made by Pfizer / BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson.
Early data released on Sunday indicates that two doses of Oxford / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine offer only ‘minimal protection’ against mild and moderate Covid-19 against the variant first identified in South Africa.
The study, which has not yet been released, included about 2,000 volunteers who were on average 31 years old; about half received the vaccine and half received a placebo, which does nothing.
Details of the study by researchers from the South African University of Witwatersrand and others, as well as from the University of Oxford, were shared in a press release. The results have been submitted for peer review and a pre-print will be announced soon, Oxford said.
CNN released AstraZeneca for comment.
A company spokesman said in a statement on Saturday that he was working with the University of Oxford to adapt the vaccine against the B.1.351 variant, and that it would promote it through clinical development, so that ‘it’s ready is for fall delivery if needed. ‘
Maria Van Kerkhove, technical leader of the World Health Organization for Covid-19, said on Sunday that the WHO Independent Vaccine Panel would meet on Monday to discuss the AstraZeneca vaccine and what the new study means for vaccines in the future.
Van Kerkhove said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that ‘some preliminary studies indicate reduced effectiveness. But again, the studies have not yet been fully published. ‘
She added that it is critical to have more than one safe and effective vaccine: “We can not rely on just one product.”