First country arguably wants to return a million doses of AstraZeneca's corona vaccine

According to a media report, South Africa plans to return a million doses of AstraZeneca's corona vaccine.

A study had shown that it only offers limited protection against the virus variant B.1.351.

Pretoria - Last week, South Africa temporarily stopped the corona vaccination with the vaccine from the British-Swedish manufacturer AstraZeneca.

With this, the government reacted to a study by the universities of Oxford and Witwatersrand, according to which the vaccine provides only minimal protection against mild and moderate illnesses after infection with the predominant virus variant B.1.351 in South Africa.

Corona vaccine from AstraZeneca: South Africa probably wants to return a million vaccine doses

South Africa, the hardest-hit coronavirus country in Africa, had only recently received a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and was planning to start vaccinating health workers.

As reported by the

Economic Times

newspaper

, the country's government has asked the Serum Institute of India (SII) to take back the one million doses of vaccine it has received.

The SII is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer and produces AstraZeneca's corona vaccine.

In addition to the one million vaccination doses already delivered, South Africa should receive a delivery of another 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca agent in the coming weeks.

The South African government

has not yet

confirmed the

Economic Times

report

that the country intends to return a million AstraZeneca vaccine doses.

The company has not commented on the report either.

+

South Africa reportedly plans to return a million doses of AstraZeneca's corona vaccine.

(Symbol image)

© Luc Nobout / imago-images

Corona vaccination: South Africa wants to rely on vaccine from Johnson & Johnson

South Africa now wants to continue its corona vaccination campaign with the not yet approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

This will be administered in a so-called implementation study, announced South Africa's Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize last Wednesday.

In the planned first phase of the corona vaccination campaign, around 1.25 million health workers are to be vaccinated.

In contrast to the AstraZeneca vaccine, it has been proven that the Johnson & Johnson vaccination is effective against the variant B.1.351 that is prevalent in South Africa, said Mkhize.

"The necessary approval procedures for use in South Africa are currently underway."

AstraZeneca's corona vaccine has also been temporarily suspended in the Sörmland region of Sweden.

The reason for this was a “surprising” accumulation of side effects in two clinics.

However, after discussions with the national drug authority and the manufacturer, the responsible region sees no cause for concern.

(ph / dpa)

List of rubric lists: © Luc Nobout via www.imago-images.de