Africa not 'walking away' from AstraZeneca vaccine, CDC says

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

The African Union (AU) will not be “walking away” from AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine but will target its use in countries that have not reported cases of the variant dominant in South Africa, the head of its disease control body said on Thursday. 

The comments come after South Africa paused the rollout of the vaccine because of preliminary trial data showing it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate disease caused by the 501Y.V2 variant dominant in the country.

South Africa said on Wednesday it could seek to sell or swap its AstraZeneca shots, and will use an alternative from Johnson & Johnson to start protecting healthcare workers later this month.

African countries are due to receive 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine this year under an AU vaccine plan.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told a virtual news conference that more work was needed to understand how the AstraZeneca vaccine worked against the fast-spreading 501Y.V2 variant first identified late last year.

"For now our strategy is not to throw away our 100 million doses, but rather target countries that as we indicated have not reported cases of that specific variant,” Nkengasong said, adding that only six countries other than South Africa had reported that the variant was circulating.

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"You still have an extensive number of countries that can benefit from those vaccines, so we will not be walking away from AstraZeneca vaccines at all."

Kenya said on Thursday that it would move ahead with plans to use the AstraZeneca shot.

Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization Africa director, said the WHO was briefing African countries on a recommendation by its SAGE panel of experts to use the AstraZeneca vaccine, even in countries where the 501Y.V2 variant may reduce its efficacy.

She said interactions with countries neighbouring South Africa were “particularly intense” after eSwatini said on Tuesday that it would not use the AstraZeneca shots.

"While a vaccine that prevents against all forms of COVID-19 illness is our biggest hope, preventing severe cases and hospitalisations which overwhelm ... health systems is crucial,” Moeti told another news conference.