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South Africa in shock after AstraZeneca vaccine rollout halted

South Africa's decision to halt its rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a study showed "disappointing" results against its new Covid-19 variant may have left the nation in shock, but it also shows how scientists are at the forefront of the battle against coronavirus.

One and half million doses of the jab had been bought for healthcare workers and they were due to start getting their vaccinations this week

How do frontline workers feel?
There is no denying that they feel anxious.

A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country's first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against Covid-19 at the Baragwanath Hospital on 28 June 2020 in Soweto, South Africa

Siviwe Gwarube, head of health for the main opposition Democratic Alliance, said the setback left them vulnerable to a third wave.

South Africa has recorded almost 1.5 million coronavirus cases and more than 46,000 deaths since the pandemic began - a higher toll than any other country on the continent.

"I had a lot of hope that the vaccine would change the situation we're in as a country. A lot of people are losing jobs. I'm a medical student and we are really exposed to Covid-19. It was a blow for me when I heard that the efficacy of the vaccine was lower," a young male medic, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC.

But health experts say while the new variant has affected South Africa's initial vaccine plan, all is not lost - and 100,000 older nurses and other health workers will still be given the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as part of a new trial.

This is because they believe that the vaccine may still be effective in preventing severe illness and go some way to reducing the number of people who need to be admitted to hospital for treatment.

This is important in a country where some 80% of the population cannot afford private health care and rely on state hospitals, which are currently overstretched.

Was the AstraZeneca trial a waste of time?
No, say South African experts.

"We are experiencing science in real time," says Dr Kerrin Begg, a public medicine specialist at the University of Cape Town.

And South Africa's health officials have been commended for following the advice of scientists in their handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Many of their, at times, controversial decisions have been driven by erring on the side of caution.

In this case, the most recent phase of the study on the AstraZeneca vaccine was carried out on 2,000 people whose average age was 31.

Recent data from the trial shows it was not effective against mild and moderate symptoms of the more contagious South African variant, also known as 501.V2 or B.1.351.

This is a stumbling block as 90% of new infections in South Africa are of the new variant.

The scientists now want to see if the study on the group of 100,000 nurses and other healthcare workers will show if the vaccine is effective against the new variant and in preventing severe illness in an older age group

And Dr Begg says the public should not lose sight of how much has been achieved by scientists not just in South Africa but globally since the virus's outbreak last year.

"Vaccines usually take years to develop because they are amongst the most regulated substances on Earth. But we're in a position now where many have been passed for safety and are becoming available to the public, that is an incredible achievement."

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