Following the announcement that South Africa will halt its use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Belgium’s vaccination task force will look at the new information on the vaccine and may adjust its strategy, said virologist Marc Van Ranst.
South Africa made the decision to suspend the use of this particular vaccine, which would have started this week, after an initial small-scale sample showed that it does not protect against the new South African variant of the new coronavirus (Covid-19).
This announcement was not “good news” Van Ranst said on Radio 1’s “De Ochtend” programme, added that there is no reason to panic in Belgium.
“The other vaccines do protect against the South African variant, AstraZeneca’s does not,” he explained. He added that, in South Africa, that is a big problem, because that’s where the variant originated and here it is circulating at a higher speed.
Lauren Walker
The Brussels Times