South Africa halts rollout of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine after shot falters against variant

South Africa is halting its rollout of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, the country's minister of health said Sunday, following a new analysis that suggests the shot "provides minimal protection" against mild disease caused by the new coronavirus variant circulating in South Africa.

Two top virologists advising the government said during a press conference that the pause was necessary. They said South Africa would institute a new process in which vaccines are initially studied in a research phase to try and determine that each vaccine reduces Covid hospitalizations in South Africa despite the widespread new variant there.

Dr Helen Rees:
Covid: 'Society might not return to normal until 2022' | BBC News Wales |

Professor Salim Abdool Karim:
Hogging Covid vaccines endangers all nations, warns South Africa expert