• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Sci-tech

Prof Schoub suggests that rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine should be suspended

7 February 2021, 9:37 PM  |
Ditaba Tsotetsi Ditaba Tsotetsi |  @SABCNews
Prof Barry Schoub says more studies on the AstraZeneca vaccine need to be conducted.

Prof Barry Schoub says more studies on the AstraZeneca vaccine need to be conducted.

Image: Reuters

Prof Barry Schoub says more studies on the AstraZeneca vaccine need to be conducted.

The Chairperson of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 vaccines, Professor Barry Schoub, has suggested that the rollout of AstraZeneca’s vaccine should be suspended.  He was participating in a media briefing by the Department of Health and scientists to update South Africans on COVID-19 vaccines.

The briefing was held after AstraZeneca’s announcement that its vaccine only offers limited protection against mild disease caused by the variant that has been discovered in South Africa.

Prof Schoub says more studies on the vaccine need to be conducted.

“The AstraZeneca vaccine study Prof Madhi did, provides some rather disappointing initial studies. But as he pointed out, there may well still be effective utilisation of AstraZeneca. For example, we need to look at the cell mediated immune responses; we may need to look at combination of AZ vaccine with other vaccines which may in fact give a synergistically good response. So I just think we need to maybe suspend use of AstraZeneca, but investigate it more fully, can we utilise it more effectively.”

South Africa has already bought 1.5 million doses of the vaccine from the Serum Institute in India, of which one million doses arrived in South Africa. The rollout of the vaccine to vaccinate healthcare workers will start this week.

Earlier in the briefing, Professor of Vaccinology at Wits University, Shabir Madhi, said the AstraZeneca vaccine trial that was done by his team in the country, could not give full proof of the vaccine’s efficacy against the new 501v2 variant.

Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize says they have chosen the AstraZeneca vaccine due to promising results and its flexibility.

Mkhize says South Africa is ready to rollout the vaccine that has been acquired. However, local scientists should look into this issue.

Minister Zweli Mkhize gives update on the COVID-19 vaccine: 

COVID-19 statistics paint a good picture

Meanwhile, Senior Researcher at the CSIR Dr Ridhwaan Suliman says the COVID-19 statistics continue to paint a good picture about the pandemic in South Africa. He says the number of new cases recorded in the past week have halved.

This as the country prepares to roll-out the coronavirus vaccine from this coming week, a move which raised some concerns especially about the efficacy of the vaccine.

Dr Suliman says although infections are decreasing, we are not out of the woods yet.

South Africa’s COVID-19 cases update with Dr Ridhwaan Suliman:

Share article
Tags: COVID-19Barry SchoubDr Zweli MkhizeAstraZeneca
Previous Post

UK says COVID-19 booster and annual vaccinations very probable

Next Post

Bomb kills 12 security agents in Somalia as politicians wrangle over presidency

Related Posts

Shell petrol station

Activist group accuses Shell of misleading investors on renewables

1 February 2023, 3:40 PM
Researchers studying the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis test samples in a laboratory run by South African biotech company TASK in Cape Town, South Africa, May 11, 2020.

SA admitted to a prestigious international science program

1 February 2023, 8:53 AM
File Image: Hospital bed in a ward.

Gauteng Health battles with surgical backlogs

1 February 2023, 6:10 AM
A member of the Incident Management Team coordinates the search for a radioactive capsule that was lost in transit by a contractor hired by Rio Tinto, at the Emergency Services Complex in Cockburn, Australia, in this undated handout photo. Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

Australian nuclear body joins search for missing radioactive capsule

31 January 2023, 10:13 AM
A man wearing a protective face mask walks past an illustration of a virus outside a regional science centre amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Oldham, Britain August 3, 2020.

WHO maintains highest alert over COVID, but sees hope ahead

30 January 2023, 7:18 PM
FILE PHOTO: Smoke billows from the chimneys of Belchatow Power Station in Poland, Europe's biggest coal-fired power plant, in this May 7, 2009.

Prof Marwala urges leaders to address challenges posed by climate change

30 January 2023, 6:42 PM
Next Post
A Somali police officer walks past a wreckage at the scene of a car bomb explosion at a checkpoint in Mogadishu.

Bomb kills 12 security agents in Somalia as politicians wrangle over presidency

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Registration at Unisa closes on Friday, but management says no need to panic
  • Gas leak shut, isolated in Pretoria North
  • King of Bacardi music ‘Vusi Ma R5’ killed in Soshanguve
  • Committee wants to halt planned demolition of North West hospital
  • Bapedi kingdom commemorates Kgosi Mampuru II, still hoping to find his remains
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Premier denies claims that KZN government spent millions on Mampintsha’s funeral
  • At least 10 people killed in Bhityi area, Eastern Cape
  • UPDATE: Four dead in KwaMashu Hostel shooting
  • Manhunt for 20 suspects in KwaMashu shooting
  • LIVE: EFF leader Julius Malema and bodyguard back in court
  • VIDEO: Jacob Zuma vs State Advocate Billy Downer, Karen Maughan

LATEST

Electricity pylons  in South Africa.
  • Business

Eskom anticipates lower stages of load shedding by the weekend


File: An overview of the Niger delta where signs of oil spills can be seen in the water in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • Africa

Nigerian communities file damages claim against Shell


Crime scene image
  • South Africa

Police investigators still at scene of KwaMashu fatal shooting


Eskom logo against an electric bulb
  • Business

Key priority areas identified to fix energy crisis: Eskom board


ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile at a party event
  • Politics

Mashatile set to become a MP


  • Business

VIDEO | Eskom board says focusing on seven priority areas


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous UK says COVID-19 booster and annual vaccinations very probable
Next A Somali police officer walks past a wreckage at the scene of a car bomb explosion at a checkpoint in Mogadishu. Bomb kills 12 security agents in Somalia as politicians wrangle over presidency