South Africa halts rollout of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine due to new variant
The South African government halted its rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by England's University of Oxford and British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, following trial results that found the shot provided "minimal protection" against mild-to-moderate sickness from a new, more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus spreading in South Africa.
The trial did not assess whether the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine protects against severe illness and death caused by the new variant, known as B1351.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson said the company believes its vaccine will protect against severe disease caused by B1351.
"This was a small study with predominantly young (average 31 years) healthy adults, where severe disease is not predominant. No severe disease or hospitalization was observed in the vaccine or control participants," the spokesperson said in a statement Monday. "We are working closely with the South African Ministry of Health on how best to support the evaluation of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca against severe disease of the B.1.351 variant, and how to bring this vaccine to the South African people."
ABC News' Zoe Magee contributed to this report.
