Scientists unhappy at government selling AstraZeneca shots to AU
They say the vaccine’s effectiveness against the variant widespread in Africa and SA has not been determined, and raises ethical questions
26 March 2021 - 14:02
Six of SA’s leading medical scientists said the government’s decision to sell 1-million coronavirus vaccines developed by AstraZeneca to other African nations is questionable because it had not determined their effectiveness against a variant that is widespread in Africa and SA.
SA bought the shots from the Serum Institute of India (SII), which is making the vaccine under licence. It suspended the rollout to health workers in February after a small study showed they were largely ineffective in stopping mild disease caused by a virus variant first identified in SA late in 2020...
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