South Africa has put a hold on the rollout of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize last night announced that a team of experts would give guidance on the way forward with this vaccine.
Early scientific data released on Sunday revealed that the vaccine offered “minimal protection” against mild disease for people infected with the second variant of the coronavirus discovered at the end of last year.
Clinical trial data from the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine study locally revealed that it had a 22% efficacy against the 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant.
Minister Mkhize said that at the time that government acquired the vaccines, this clinical trial data had not been concluded.