South Africa recently received 1 million doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine and was poised to start vaccinating healthcare workers, but yesterday, health officials announced a pause for the rollout to investigate early findings that it offered little protection against mild-to-moderate disease caused by the B1351 variant strain that's dominant in the country.New questions about the vaccine come as World Health Organization (WHO) advisers this week consider it for emergency use listing, which if approved, would pave the way for lower income countries to receive their first doses though the COVAX program.
The first shipments through COVAX depend on 350 million doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine.Incomplete picture of severe outcome