After AstraZeneca: why SA must rethink vaccines
While the AstraZeneca results are a setback, SA’s top scientists leapt into action to negotiate an emergency shipment of 1-million Johnson & Johnson vaccines for health workers
11 February 2021 - 05:00
The dismal results of the AstraZeneca vaccine trial, released on Sunday, are a "reality check", says Wits professor Shabir Madhi, after hopes were raised last year when other vaccines proved to be 95% effective against Covid-19.
Madhi was speaking after it emerged on Sunday that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine did not prevent mild disease in a group of young and healthy people. This was due to a new variant 501Y.V2, first detected in SA. The trials measured "disease" as a single symptom of cough, fever or sore throat...
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