WHO says 'too early to dismiss' AstraZeneca's COVID jab as South Africa suspends vaccine

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday said that it was “too early to be dismissing” the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and regarded it still as an essential tool to tackle the pandemic after South Africa delayed its immunisation programme. While WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called delaying of inoculation in South Africa as a “concerning news”, the head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which co-leads the Covax vaccine facility Richard Hatchett said it was “too early" to suspend the vaccine. 

Hatchett further told the reporters in coronavirus bi-weekly briefing on February 8, “It is absolutely crucial to use the tools that we have as effectively as we possibly can.”

AstraZeneca vaccine is currently a vital part of the WHO-sponsored Covax programme which was set up in order to procure the COVID-19 vaccines and ensure their equitable distribution across the globe in the fight against the pandemic. The OXford-AstraZeneca’’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate reportedly amounts for all of the 337.2 million vaccine doses Covax is preparing to ship to around 145 nations during the first half of 2021 after it received the WHO authorisation. As per reports, it is expected next week. Tedros noted that AstraZeneca prevents severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalisation and death.

“Yesterday, South Africa announced it was putting a temporary hold on the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a study showed it was minimally effective at preventing mild to moderate disease caused by a variant first identified in South Africa,” said WHO chief.

“This is clearly concerning news. However, there are some important caveats. Given the limited sample size of the trial and the younger, healthier profile of the participants, it is important to determine whether or not the vaccine remains effective in preventing more severe illness,” he added. 

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AstraZeneca vaccine against South African variant

Oxford and AstraZeneca noted that their COVID-19 vaccine candidate will not protect people against mild to moderate covid illness that is caused by the South African variant. However, all vaccines have been found to provide immunisation against the most severe disease, hospitalisation and death. 

As per The Guardian report, Shabir Madhi, professor of vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand who has been the chief investigator on a number of COVID-19 vaccine trials in South Africa including the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has said that it was now time to rethink the goals of mass immunisation from the highly-infectious disease caused by the coronavirus. A study involving over 2,000 participants in South Africa that included two vaccines, from Novavax and Janssen that was found to have around 60% efficacy.

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