South Africa received its first 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week and was expected to begin giving jabs to health care workers in mid-February. The disappointing early results indicate that an inoculation drive using the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be useful. Preliminary data from a small study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine offers only “minimal protection against mild-moderate disease" caused by the variant in South Africa. “The AstraZeneca vaccine appeared effective against the original strain, but not against the variant,” Mkhize said. The international COVAX initiative has bought the AstraZeneca vaccine in bulk from the Serum Institute of India.

Source: ABC News February 07, 2021 14:37 UTC