Johannesburg, Feb 10 (AFP/APP): South Africa is considering trading its doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, which may be less effective against a local virus variant, and beginning its inoculation campaign with Johnson & Johnson shots instead, the health minister said Wednesday. The country worst-hit by the pandemic in Africa has suspended its vaccine rollout — meant to begin with Oxford/AstraZeneca this week — after a study found the jab failed to prevent mild and moderate illness caused by a variant discovered in South Africa dubbed 501Y.V2. The vaccination delay has set back an ambitious plan to inoculate around 40 million people — 67 percent of the population — by the end of 2021. “Given the outcomes of the efficacy studies (government) will continue with the planned phase one vaccination using the Johnson & Johnson vaccines instead of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told a press briefing. “The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been proven effective against the 501Y.V2 variant.” He did not say when immunisation would begin. Meantime officials are deciding on the fate of more than a million Oxford  AstraZeneca vaccines already secured from the Serum Institute of India (SII) and set to expire at the end of April, though … Continue reading South Africa considers trading its doses of Covid-19 vaccine