JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa will suspend the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine in its vaccination program after data show that it offers minimal protection against mild to moderate infections caused by the country’s dominant coronavirus variant.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday that the government would await advice from scientists on the best way to proceed, after disappointing results in a test conducted by the University of Witwatersrand.
The government planned to distribute the AstraZeneca shot to health professionals soon after receiving 1 million doses produced by the Serum Institute of India on Monday.
Instead, he will offer vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer in the coming weeks, while experts consider how the AstraZeneca injection can be implanted.
“What does this mean for our vaccination program, which we said will start in February? The answer is that it will continue, ”said Mkhize at an online press conference.
“Starting next week, for the next four weeks, we expect J&J vaccines, there will be Pfizer vaccines. So, what will be available to health professionals will be these vaccines ”.
“The AstraZeneca vaccine will remain with us … until scientists give us clear indications of what we need to do,” he added.
Reporting by Alexander Winning and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Alexander Smith edition