Will vaccines against the South African variant work?
1:57
(CNN) -
South African health officials said Sunday they had suspended the country's application of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after a study showed it offers reduced protection against the variant of COVID-19 first identified there. .
During a briefing on Sunday, South African Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize said the suspension would be temporary while scientists figure out how to more effectively implement the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Mkhize said South Africa will move forward with the deployment of vaccines made by Pfizer / BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson.
The first data published on Sunday suggests that two doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine provided only "minimal protection" against mild and moderate COVID-19 of the variant first identified in South Africa.
What the AstraZeneca vaccine study says
The study, which has not been published, included about 2,000 volunteers who were an average of 31 years old.
About half got the vaccine and half got a placebo, which does nothing.
Viral neutralization against variant B.1.351 was "substantially reduced" compared to the previous strain of coronavirus, the researchers said in a news release.
The efficacy of the vaccine against severe COVID-19, hospitalization and death was not evaluated.
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Details of the study by researchers from South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and others, as well as the University of Oxford, were shared in a press release.
The results were submitted for peer review and a preliminary version will be published soon, Oxford said.
In a statement on Sunday, an AstraZeneca spokesperson said the company is "working closely with the South African Ministry of Health on how to best support and begin to carry out the B.1.351 assessment against severe disease. vaccination to South Africans could prove that it is successful ”.
AstraZeneca believes that vaccine will protect against variant
The statement says the company believes its vaccine will still protect against severe disease from the new B.1.351 variant, particularly when the dosing interval is eight to 12 weeks.
In an earlier statement, the company said it is working with the University of Oxford to tailor the B.1.351 variant vaccine so that it "is ready for fall delivery if needed."
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We just don't know yet
On Sunday, Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead for covid-19, said the WHO's independent vaccine panel will meet on Monday to discuss the AstraZeneca vaccine and what the new study means for the vaccines in the future.
Van Kerkhove said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that "some preliminary studies suggest reduced efficacy.
But again, those studies are not yet fully published. '
He added that it is essential to have more than one safe and effective vaccine: "We cannot rely on just one product."
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