BENGALURU (INDIA) – A week after South Africa put a hold on use of Astra Zeneca’s shot in it’s inoculation programme, it has asked the Serum Institute of India to take back the one million COVID-19 vaccine which was sent in early February.
South Africa’s health minister has said the government may sell doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, after the country paused its rollout following a small clinical trial that showed it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness from the 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant dominant in the country.
Based on data from a study by South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University, AstraZeneca has said its vaccine appeared to offer only limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant.
The African country, which is yet to launch its COVID-19 vaccination programme, has decided to start vaccinating health workers with Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine in the form of an “implementation study” with researchers.