South Africa cancels plans for AstraZeneca’s COVID variant vaccine

South Africa vaccinated front-line healthcare workers with Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after small clinical trials showed that it was ineffective in preventing mild to moderate illness from the predominant variants in the country The plan to do has been suspended.

South Africa was expected to receive the first million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine last week and begin giving jabs to healthcare workers in mid-February. Unfortunately early results indicate that inoculation drives with the AstraZeneca vaccine may not help.

Preliminary data from a small study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine provides only “minimal protection against mild to moderate disease” caused by mutants in South Africa. Health Minister Zwelli Mukize said on Sunday night that the variant is more infectious, causing a recurrence of a fatal disease in the country and currently accounts for more than 90% of COVID-19 cases.

“The AstraZeneca vaccine seemed to work against the original strain, but not against the mutant strain,” Mkhize said. “We have decided to temporarily suspend the deployment of the vaccine … we need to do more work.”

The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, involved 2,000 people, most of whom were young and healthy. The average age of volunteers was 31 years.

A statement released by the University of Oxford and the University of the Witwatersland in Johannesburg said, “The risk of the population was so low that this study could not assess protection against moderate to severe illness, hospitalization, or death.” I am.

Scientists will study whether the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective in preventing serious illness and mortality against the mutant, Mkhize said.

Other vaccines have shown reduced efficacy against mutants, but provide good protection from serious illness and death.

Public health officials are concerned because South African variants contain mutations in the characteristic peplomer of viruses targeted by existing vaccines. South African officials say there is evidence that the variant may be more contagious and more toxic.

South Africa plans to urgently deploy other vaccines in order to get as many vaccines as possible within the next few months, Mkhize said. On Sunday, other South African scientists said clinical trials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine showed good results for the mutants.

The initial results of the AstraZeneca vaccine against variants can have widespread implications as Africa and many other countries plan to use AstraZeneca shots. The international COVAX initiative purchased the AstraZeneca vaccine in bulk from the Serum Institute of India.

Developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified jab to combat South African coronavirus variants by the fall, the vaccine’s lead researchers said on Sunday.

Sara Gilbert, a senior researcher on the Oxford team, told the BBC on Sunday that “there is a version with a South African spike sequence while working.”

“It looks like it’s very likely that a new version will be available in the fall,” she added.

Last week, British officials went home-to-home to carry out COVID-19 tests in eight areas where South African variants appear to be endemic. Since then, a small number of cases have been found for anyone or anyone who has no contact with the country. I traveled there.

Over 100 cases of South African variants have been found in the United Kingdom. Test Blitz is a bid to eliminate variants before they become widespread and undermine the development of vaccination in the United Kingdom.

In the UK, the most deadly coronavirus outbreak in Europe has been seen, with more than 112,000 confirmed deaths, but we are embarking on a faster vaccination program than the neighboring European Union. So far, the UK has given about 11.5 million people the first coronavirus vaccine jab.