South Africa Defers AstraZeneca Vaccinations as Vaccine Only Provides Minimal Protection against COVID-19 Variant

On February 7th, the South African government decided to put the AstraZeneca vaccinations on hold after the COVID-19 vaccine was only 22% effective at preventing mild-to-moderate infections caused by the South African variant. This could result in a big setback for the World Health Organization and COVAX, as they planned to distribute around 150 million doses of the vaccine to lower-income countries in the first quarter of the year.

COVID -19 infections have resulted in over 2.3 million deaths, and it has infected more than 106 million people in a little more than a year. Vaccines are one of the main tools developed to stop this pandemic. New vaccines are being approved every month. However, the emergence of new variants resistant to some of these vaccines is concerning.

Vaccines vs. New COVID Variants

Viruses change and mutate constantly. Every time they reproduce, and every time they spread from one person to the next, they acquire small changes to their proteins. The same is true for the SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. These changes can make the virus better at infecting people or, even worse, become resistant to vaccines that were designed for the original strain.

Several new variants of the virus have been detected worldwide. These include more contagious variants such as the ones in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil. In addition to being more contagious, it was reported that the South African variant is more resistant to current antibody therapies. Besides, vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have also been less effective against the variant but still above the 50% threshold necessary for approval.

A new report by the South African government suggests that AstraZeneca’s vaccine lowers the chance to develop mild-to-moderate COVID-19 by only 22%. In contrast, this same vaccine had a 75% efficacy against the original strain. More studies are necessary to determine if the vaccine still provides protection against hospitalizations and severe COVID-19. However, the results led the South African government to pause the vaccine rollout until a new approach is determined.

Trouble for the COVAX Program

COVAX is a program co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and World Health Organization (WHO). The goal is to negotiate with companies to develop and manufacture vaccines, as well as guarantee their access to lower-income countries.

Most of the doses COVAX had secure were from AstraZeneca. In the first quarter of the year, there were expected to distribute 150 million doses of this vaccine, and an additional 200 million doses in the second quarter. If the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective, it could affect the vaccine rollout. In a press statement, the WHO reiterated the importance of slowing the spread of the virus. “We must do everything possible to reduce the circulation of the virus, prevent infections and reduce the opportunities for the SARS-CoV-2 to evolve resulting in mutations that may reduce the efficacy of existing vaccines.”, it reported on its website.

Related Article: Lilly Teams up with GSK, Vir to Fight New COVID-19 Variants Using Antibody Combo

References

1. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-safrica-idUSKBN2A80J2
2. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/
3. https://www.who.int/news/item/08-02-2021-covax-statement-on-new-variants-of-sars-cov-2
4. https://www.who.int/news/item/22-01-2021-covax-announces-new-agreement-plans-for-first-deliveries
5. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-science/south-african-virus-variant-may-resist-antibody-drugs-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-seems-to-work-vs-uk-variant-idINKBN29P2P1
6. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/health/coronavirus-moderna-vaccine-variant.html

Author

Daniel Ojeda