Forced to suspend the launch of its COVID-19 vaccination program, South Africa is now working on trials, with several thousand people, of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the effectiveness of which is questioned, particularly against local variant of the virus.
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The first vaccines were to be injected this week in the African country most affected by the pandemic. But the government was forced to announce a break on Sunday after the publication of a study revealing “limited” effectiveness against the South African variant, known to be more contagious and largely responsible for the second wave in the country.
Lagging behind in the global vaccine race, Africa’s leading industrial powerhouse last week received one million doses made in India and is due to receive another 500,000 in February. All of this is the British AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine.
These vaccines could well be administered but in a phased manner and on a small population of some 100,000 people at first, to study the effects and in particular to check whether it protects against severe forms of the disease, explained Monday at the ‘AFP the epidemiologist and co-chair of the scientific committee at the Ministry of Health, Prof. Salim Abdool Karim.
Calling for caution, he said that these tests may take “several weeks”. Then, “we can assess whether to continue with the 1.5 million doses (AstraZeneca) we have or whether to stop”.
The study unveiled Sunday, carried out on 2,000 people by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, affirms that the British vaccine offers “limited protection against moderate forms of the disease caused by the South African variant, in young adults”.
” Wallet ”
According to these results, however not yet peer reviewed, it is only 22% effective. No results are yet available on its effectiveness against severe forms.
The scientific committee’s recommendations will be considered by the government in a series of meetings this week.
In the meantime, the South African minister assured that other vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer laboratories will be delivered in the coming weeks.
Discussions with other laboratories are also underway, in particular with Moderna, Chinese laboratories as well as with the Russian vaccine manufacturer Sputnik V.
“We will be using a diverse portfolio of vaccines,” explained Karim.
According to the main opposition party, this setback highlights the government’s lack of anticipation. “We should have taken into account the possibility of a change in efficiency or delays in the deployment strategy and made sure we were prepared for that,” the Democratic Alliance (DA) said in a statement on Monday.
” A problem? ”
The World Health Organization (WHO) is due to publish recommendations this week on who this vaccine should and should not be given.
“We believe our vaccine will still protect against severe forms of the disease,” said AstraZeneca after the publication of the University of the Witwatersrand study.
According to South African vaccinologist Clare Cutland, interviewed by AFP, the sample used in the study is too small to assess the effectiveness of AstraZeneca against severe forms of the disease.
“Do we want it to prevent mild and moderate illness, or (…) reduce and prevent serious illness?” She asked.
South Africa may not achieve collective immunity to protect mild forms of the disease, but “it may not be a huge problem,” she explains.
To date, South Africa has recorded nearly 1.5 million cases of coronavirus and more than 46,200 deaths. The death rate, however, remained relatively low, with 92% cures.
AstraZeneca researchers hope to develop a new version of the vaccine, including the South African variant sequence, by the fall.