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South Africa Suspends Use of AstraZeneca Vaccine

VOA News

   South Africa suspended its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 Sunday
   after a new study revealed that the AstraZeneca vaccine is less
   effective against a variant of the virus found in the country.
   The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand in
   Johannesburg and not yet peer reviewed, concluded that the British
   vaccine offered only "limited protection against moderate forms of the
   disease caused by the South African variant, in young adults."
   The news was a blow to South Africa, which has seen more than 46,000
   people die from the virus. It had planned to begin inoculating its
   population with a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the
   coming days. But the study found that the vaccine was only 22%
   effective in moderate cases of the South African variant of the
   disease.
   The study did not explore the vaccine's effect against severe cases.
   The variant has been found in at least 32 other countries including the
   United States.
   AstraZeneca said Sunday it was developing another vaccine that would be
   more effective against the South African variant, which could be
   expected by this autumn.
   Over the weekend, both Iran and China unveiled new vaccines against the
   virus. On Sunday, Iran announced it had developed the Razi Cov Pars
   vaccine manufactured by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute.
   Scientists will begin testing the vaccine on people this week.
   On Saturday, China's National Medical Products Administration said in a
   statement Saturday that regulators approved the use Friday of
   CoronaVac, developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

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