“Global Health” studies the efficacy of the “AstraZeneca” vaccine

Vaccine experts from the World Health Organization began discussions yesterday (Monday) to decide on recommendations for the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, including in the elderly, while South Africa suspended the launch of the vaccination program with this vaccine due to fears. that it will not be effective against the mutated version of Corona. The vaccine, which the UK was the first to use on a large scale in its own population in December, has received approval from many countries and the European Union. However, some governments have preferred to recommend it only to those under 65 or even 55 years old due to a lack of sufficient data on its effectiveness in older adults.

South Africa suspended the start of its campaign, which was scheduled to begin in the next few days, with one million doses of the “AstraZeneca” vaccine, as a test showed that it only provides “minimal” protection against mild to moderate Covid infections. -19 resulting from the mutated version that was first discovered in South Africa. “The first results seem to confirm that the version discovered in South Africa can be transmitted to the vaccinated population,” said a statement about this study by the University of Vittersrand in Johannesburg.

“We believe that our vaccine can still prevent serious diseases,” AstraZeneca, which developed the vaccine together with Oxford University, told AFP. The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts, which includes 15 members of the World Health Organization, kicked off a special meeting on Monday to discuss this two-dose vaccine. The United Nations World Health Organization stated that recommendations on the groups that can receive the vaccine will be released later this week. Regulatory authorities in many European countries did not allow the vaccine to be used in people over 65, which is the age group most at risk of developing severe symptoms of Covid-19.During yesterday’s meeting, AstraZeneca planned to give a 25-minute presentation on vaccine safety and efficacy data, in addition to the results of the three stages of human trials.

With an average effectiveness of 70 percent now, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is less convincing at the moment than the Pfizer-Bionic and Moderna vaccines, which are more than 90 percent effective. But storing it doesn’t require the extremely low temperatures needed for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.South Africa, which has yet to launch an epidemic vaccination campaign, received the first batch of vaccines on Monday, amounting to a million doses. The country expects to receive an additional 500,000 doses this month. All doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India, are supposed to be the first to receive the 1.2 million medical personnel. “In the next four weeks, we will have the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines,” said South African Health Minister McKezi.

Negotiations are also underway with other vaccine producers, notably Moderna and the vaccine developers Sputnik, in Russian. McKeezy recently announced the reservation of 20 million doses of the Pfizer-Bionic vaccine.

The minister explained that the 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine destined for South Africa, which expire in April, will be pending the guidance of scientific experts on them.

An epidemiologist and one of the directors of the scientific committee of the South African Ministry of Health, Salim Abdel Karim, said that “producing a second generation of vaccine against all mutants will take longer.” South Africa intends to vaccinate at least 67 percent of its population by the end of the year, or around 40 million people. The country has so far registered around 1.5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 46,000 deaths.