South Africa suspends vaccination amid growing concerns about AstraZeneca shots

South Africa has suspended the start of the AstraZeneca vaccination program. It will meet on Monday with WHO experts to discuss that they are already facing doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccine over the age of 65, concerned that Shot will not work with the new variant.

The trial is vaccine It provides only “minimal” protection against mild to moderate COVID-19 caused by the first subspecies detected in South Africa. This is a retreat to the global battle against the pandemic, as many poor countries rely on the logistical benefits offered by AstraZeneca’s shooting.

The most devastating country in Africa planned to launch a campaign with a million doses of AstraZeneca in the next few days, but the government postponed it in light of the results of a trial conducted by the University of Witatersland in Johannesburg. I decided to do it.

“It’s a temporary issue that we have to stay in AstraZeneca until we understand these issues,” Health Minister Zwelli Mukize told reporters on Sunday.

He added that the 1.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines obtained by South Africa expired in April and will be stored until scientists give clear instructions on their use.

AstraZeneca, who developed the shot at Oxford University, told AFP: “We believe our vaccines still prevent serious illness.”

A spokesman for one company said researchers are already working to update the vaccine to address the rapidly expanding South African variants around the world.

A panel of World Health Organizations will meet in Geneva on Monday to consider shots. It is a key component of the first Covax global vaccine deployment targeting approximately 145 countries (mainly low and middle income countries).

Of the initial 337.2 million Kovacs doses, 240 million are AstraZeneca injections, which do not require the cryopreservation required for the Pfizer and Modana vaccines.

There are already concerns about the effectiveness of AstraZeneca Shot over the age of 65, and many European countries have not yet approved it for their demographics.

‘be careful’

The· Coronavirus Pandemics kill more than 2.3 million people worldwide out of nearly 106 million known infectious diseases. Despite the retreat of AstraZeneca, vaccine deployment in other countries is accelerating.

Hungarian officials said they had approved Russia’s Sputnik V shot on Sunday, but Cambodia has become the latest country to receive 600,000 jabs and China’s Shinofarm vaccine.

In the most devastating country, the United States, efforts are underway to accelerate mass vaccination programs that have been plagued by supply and logistics problems.

President Joe Biden, who took office last month, said his predecessor Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic was “more disastrous than we thought.”

“I thought they were showing that there were more vaccines, but they weren’t,” he told CBS News on Sunday. “That’s why we’ve done as much as we can.”

Biden also called on American football fans to “be careful.” Health experts were worried that the virus would spread during and after the Super Bowl, the country’s largest sporting event.

“I was bored at home”

There was some good news from Israel that began to emerge from the third blockade on Sunday. The Israeli vaccination program is considered the fastest per capita in the world.

In Jordan next door, almost a year later, hundreds of thousands of students returned to the classroom on Sunday.

“I am very happy to see my friends and teachers again,” said 7-year-old Mecca at a school in Jabal Amman, in the heart of the Jordanian capital.

“I was bored at home.”

Schools were also scheduled to reopen on Monday in Romania, the Netherlands, Denmark and Austria. Museums and shops were also scheduled to reopen in Austria.

And there is both darkness and optimism in Venice, and the annual carnival began with a much smaller celebration.

“Venice this year is strange. It’s shocking to see it empty,” said Armando Barra, a costume salesman.

“Venice has been around several times in history, so I’m here today to be able to live and be reborn.”

© 2021 AFP