Scientists in KwaZulu-Natal say South Africa must control COVID-19 transmissions as a vaccination programme is rolled out to limit the risk of a further mutation of the virus that could render a vaccine less effective.
Professor Tulio De Oliveiria from the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, Krisp, who is credited with identifying the SA variant 501Y.V2 was addressing a webinar by the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Earlier this week, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize announced that phase one of the vaccination plan will now use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. SA halted its rollout of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine following research and analysis that suggests that it will provide minimal protection against mild disease caused by the new coronavirus variant circulating in South Africa.
One-and-a-half million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been bought for healthcare workers and they were due to start getting their vaccinations this week. South Africa has recorded almost 1.5 million coronavirus cases and more than 46 000 deaths since the pandemic began.
Although the country recently passed the peak of a second wave of infections, scientists warn of another surge in the winter months. Professor Tulio De Oliveiria from the University of KwaZulu-Natal says it is critical for new transmissions to be controlled.
“We also know that in the beginning… that the South African variants was more dangerous because there are the mutations. In the last few weeks the variants that was discovered in the UK is adding many of the new variant that’s found in South Africa that are also evading neutralisation that the main object is now is to try to also control transmission as we roll out the vaccine otherwise this virus will keep out smarting us,” De Oliveiria says.
Dr Richard Lessells says scientists should consider having a range of vaccines that each target a different part of the virus.
“We’re reacting to what we’re seeing now. By the time we’ve developed those modified vaccines maybe the virus has evolved further if we have allowed it to. And I think that the other thing that it highlights is the need to develop different types of vaccines. That are not just targeting the spike protein but are targeting different parts of the virus that maybe are less prone to these mutations that we’ve seen,” Lessells says.
Mkhize and scientists update South Africans on COVID-19 vaccines:
Rollout preparations
Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, says preparations are under way for the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
This emerged from a virtual talk Simelane-Zulu gave at the General Gizenga Mpanza Hospital in KwaDukuza on the North Coast on Friday. She gave an update on the province’s COVID-19 vaccine programme.
“We are going to use Johnson and Johnson vaccine which is able to work in different viruses. It has a wider scope compared to the vaccine that we bought before. That will not affect the roll out programme that we had before. We will continue with it. We will start with health workers, on level two it will be all front line workers including people who are above 60 years , people with co-morbidities, then the phase will accommodate the rest of the people. As soon as it arrives we will start the roll out as the province,” the MEC says.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that the first batch of 80 000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will arrive in the country next week – with further consignments expected in the next four weeks.
Simelane-Zulu says KwaZulu-Natal will not use AstraZeneca. The Western Cape says it plans to buy vaccines to supplement doses, which will come from national government.
