South Africa asks SII to take back 1mn vaccine

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, according to reports. A week before the country said it will put on hold the use of AstraZeneca’s shot in its vaccination program. A clinical trial showed it offered minimal protection against the coronavirus variant dominant in the country.

Serum Institute of India, which is producing AstraZeneca’s shot, has emerged as a key vaccine supplier.

South Africa’s health minister has said the government may sell doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine after the country paused its roll-out 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.

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.

One million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine landed in South Africa last week and another 500,000 were due to arrive in the next few weeks.