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GAVI says COVAX will continue with distribution of AstraZeneca vaccines
By Modupe Shodeinde
The Global Vaccines Alliance, GAVI, a lead partner in the WHO-led COVAX initiative for covid-19 has said distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccines will continue despite report showing it was less effective against a variant of the novel coronavirus first detected in South Africa.
COVAX, the United Nations-led initiative, aims to distribute 350 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine worldwide in the first six months of 2021, with Nigeria allocated 16 million doses of the vaccine under the arrangement.
The Chief Executive of Gavi, Dr. Seth Berkley said the AstraZeneca vaccine is efficacious and has been reviewed and approved by a number of stringent regulatory authorities.
Berkley said that once the vaccine gains approval it was likely that it would be rolled out to developing countries.
“The vaccine has been reviewed by a number of stringent regulatory authorities and gotten approval and had studies in many countries. And therefore we suspect that we will continue to roll it out and we’ll continue to follow the effects of that vaccine over time,” he explained during an online press conference.
At a WHO press conference Dr Kate O’Brien, director of immunisation, vaccines and biologicals at WHO, suggested it was likely that the vaccine would gain approval but said continued monitoring was essential.
“There was a very positive view [at Sage] about proceeding with the use of the vaccine, including in settings where variants are circulating, with a big emphasis on collecting information that would really help,” she said.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at WHO, said the study did not show “that this vaccine doesn’t work at all”.
“What we’ve seen is data from a small study. It’s indicative. It is telling us we need to collect more data, we need to study it more,” she said.
South Africa, which has ordered a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, said it would now administer the jab in a “stepped manner”. It will give out 100,000 doses and then monitor hospitalisation rates to determine whether the remaining doses should be given.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, leader of South Africa’s Covid response, said: “We don’t want to end up with a situation where we vaccinate a million people or two million people with a vaccine that may not be effective at preventing hospitalisation and severe disease.”
While the small study suggested the vaccine did not prevent mild and moderate disease in a group of mostly young people, it did not look at whether the vaccine prevents severe disease, hospitalisation and deaths.
This is the “primary job” of vaccines, said Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies chief.
“And right now, the data on all of the vaccines in all of the situations is that they are working to do that. We may need second and third generations to do more.
“[But] In emergency management, you’ve got to do what you can do now.”
