The move comes after the trial data shows that the jab offered limited protection against mild and moderate diseases caused by the 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant.
South Africa has suspended the use of the Oxford / AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine in its immunization program until a committee of scientists advises on the best way to proceed.
The announcement by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Sunday came after test data showed that the vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford offers limited protection against mild and moderate diseases caused by the 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant identified by first time in South Africa.
The government planned to launch the Oxford / AstraZeneca shot for healthcare 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 (J&J) and Pfizer in the coming weeks, while experts consider how the AstraZeneca injection can be implanted.
“When new information is revealed and viruses change and mutate, decisions need to be made. This is possibly why the launch of the AstraZeneca vaccine is on hold for now. In the coming weeks, South Africa will have the J&J and Pfizer vaccine, ”Mkhize told The Independent Online.
The University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, which conducted the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine test, said in a statement on Sunday that the vaccine “provides minimal protection against mild to moderate COVID-19 infection” of the variant, which is dominant in South Africa. South.
But in a full article to be published on Monday, AstraZeneca said that none of the 2,000 participants near the age of 31 developed serious symptoms. This may mean that it will still have an effect on the serious illness, although there is not yet enough data to make a final judgment.
The data, which have not yet undergone peer review, “appears to confirm the theoretical observation that mutations in the virus seen in South Africa will allow for the continuous transmission of the virus in vaccinated populations,” he said.
“Protection against moderate to severe illness, hospitalization or death could not be assessed in this study because the target population was at low risk.”
A spokesman for AstraZeneca also said that the company has started to adapt its vaccine against the variant and “will rapidly advance in clinical development so that it is ready for delivery in the fall, if necessary”.