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South Africa Halts Vaccine Rollout

Anita Powell

   Worrying news from South Africa, where health experts say the
   just-arrived shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines may not work as well
   against the highly contagious coronavirus variant that is prevalent in
   the country. That realization means that officials intend to put the
   mass vaccination program -- the largest in Africa, so far -- on hold
   before it was to begin.

   Clinical studies in South Africa appear to have found no evidence that
   this vaccine has full efficacy against the variant, known as 501Y.V2 or
   B1.351.

   Dr. Shabir Madhi, the top virologist who headed South Africa's original
   vaccine trials and subsequent studies, explained Sunday night in a
   webcast:

   "Currently in South Africa, more than 90 percent of all new infections
   that are occurring are a consequence of the B1.351 variant, which we
   know now to be more transmissible and probably also more virulent than
   the original virus that was circulating," he said. "So after having
   done the final analysis, we realized that unfortunately we were
   experiencing a problem when it came to the effectiveness of this
   vaccine."

   The AstraZeneca vaccine still appears to work against severe forms of
   COVID-19, he said. However, against mild or moderate illness, it falls
   flat.

   But, as the charming South African idiom goes, this is not a train
   smash. The nation's top scientists agree it's just another hurdle to
   overcome in the COVID-19 pandemic.

   Last week, officials took delivery of 1 million doses of the vaccine.
   The plan was to inoculate the nation's health workers first, before
   eventually vaccinating 40 million South Africans.

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