- South Africa has suspended plans to inoculate its front-line health care workers with the Oxford-AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) vaccine failed to prevent mild to moderate illness from the variant dominant in the country.
- South Africa received its first 1M doses of the AZN's vaccine last week and was expected to begin giving jabs in mid-February.
- The disappointing early results indicate that an inoculation drive using the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be useful.
- Preliminary data from a small study suggested that AstraZeneca vaccine offers only “minimal protection against mild-moderate disease" caused by the South African variant.
- “The AstraZeneca vaccine appeared effective against the original strain, but not against the variant,” health minister Zweli Mkhize said. “We have decided to put a temporary hold on the rollout of the vaccine ... more work needs to be done.”
- Developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified jab to cope with the South Africa coronavirus variant by autumn.
- Early results from Moderna suggest its vaccine is still effective against the South Africa variant, while AstraZeneca's vaccine provides good protection against the U.K. variant.