“The AstraZeneca vaccine appeared effective against the original strain, but not against the variant,” said Mkhize. “We decided to temporarily suspend the launch of the vaccine … more work needs to be done.”
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, involved 2,000 people, most of whom were young and healthy. The average age of the volunteers was 31 years.
“Protection against moderate to severe illness, hospitalization or death could not be assessed in this study because the target population was at such low risk,” said a statement issued by the University of Oxford and the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Scientists will study whether or not the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective in preventing serious illness and death from the variant, said Mkhize.
Other vaccines have shown reduced efficacy against the variant, but have provided good protection against serious illness and death.
Public health officials are concerned about the South African variant because it contains a mutation of the virus’s characteristic spike protein, which is the target of existing vaccines. South African officials say the variant is more contagious and evidence is emerging that it may be more virulent.
South Africa will urgently implement other vaccines to inoculate as many as possible in the coming months, said Mkhize. Other South African scientists said on Sunday that clinical trials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine show good results against the variant.
The first results for the AstraZeneca vaccine against the variant may have far-reaching implications, as many other countries in Africa and beyond have planned to use the AstraZeneca vaccine. The international COVAX initiative purchased the AstraZeneca vaccine in bulk from the Serum Institute of India.
ADVERTISEMENT The developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine hope to have a modified jab to deal with the South African coronavirus variant by autumn, the vaccine’s principal researcher said on Sunday.
Sarah Gilbert, chief researcher at the Oxford team, told the BBC on Sunday that “we have a version with the South African peak sequence in progress.”
“It seems very likely that we can have a new version ready for use in the fall,” she added.
Authorities in England went from house to house last week to administer the COVID-19 test in eight areas where the South African variant is believed to be spreading, after a handful of cases were found in people who had no contact with the country or anyone who traveled there.
More than 100 cases of the South African variant have been found in the United Kingdom. The testing campaign is an attempt to extinguish the variant before it spreads widely and undermines the implementation of vaccination in the UK.
Britain saw the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in Europe, with more than 112,000 confirmed deaths, but embarked on a vaccination plan faster than the neighboring European Union. So far, the UK has given the first coronavirus vaccine to about 11.5 million people.