Bengaluru: South Africa has asked the Serum Institute of India to take back the one million COVID-19 vaccine doses the company had sent in early February, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday, a week after the country said it will put on hold use of AstraZeneca’s shot in its vaccination program.
Serum Institute of India, which is producing AstraZeneca’s shot, has emerged as a key vaccine supplier. One million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine landed in South Africa last week and another 5,00,000 were due to arrive in the next few weeks.
The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
South Africa’s health minister has said the government may sell doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, after the country paused its rollout following a small clinical trial that showed it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness from the 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant dominant in the country.
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AstraZeneca has said its vaccine appeared to offer only limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant, based on data from a study by South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University.
The African country, which is yet to launch its COVID-19 vaccination program, has decided to start vaccinating health workers with Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine in the form of an “implementation study” with researchers.
The Economic Times report also comes as the World Health Organisation on Monday listed the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
(PTI)