AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine would be ineffective if the South African COVID-19 variant wasn’t eliminated in the Philippines, according to an expert.
An expert on Wednesday warned that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine would be ineffective if the South African COVID-19 variant wasn’t eliminated in the Philippines.
In a report on GMA News Online, an expert warned that AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine offered “10% protection” against the COVID-19 variant that was first detected in South Africa.
According to molecular biologist and OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, the Philippines should eliminate the South African COVID-19 variant (B.1.351 variant) since it’s a “potential stumbling block” on the road towards achieving herd immunity in the country.
Austriaco told a virtual press briefing that South Africa recently halted the rollout of the said vaccine because a study showed that it significantly reduced the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
“It’s no different [from] injecting water into the patients. With 10% protection, basically, most people would still be able to get mild and moderate COVID-19. If we do not eliminate the B.1.351 variant in the Philippines, which was first identified yesterday in Pasay, the 17 million doses of AstraZeneca that we have already bought but have not yet arrived will be ineffective against fighting this particular variant from South Africa,” Austriaco said.
READ ALSO: Pfizer, BioNTech Testing Booster Shot In New Trial
The Philippines was expected to receive an initial 487,200 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses on Thursday with frontline health workers as priority recipients.
According to Austriaco, it would be more difficult to inoculate the 75 million Filipinos in order to acquire herd immunity if the said variant wasn’t controlled and wasn’t eliminated from the islands.
He also said that a person who received the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine should get a booster shot.
READ ALSO: Moderna Developing Booster Shot For New COVID-19 Variants
So far, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna were currently developing booster shots that targeted concerning new COVID-19 variants.
Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky on Monday told CNN’s Jim Sciutto that the company was currently working on a booster shot in order to help its COVID-19 vaccine deal with COVID-19 variants.
“While we’re encouraged and we’re confident in the current vaccine that we have, you’ve always got to be preparing for the future, and frankly for the unknown. So, we’re doing that as we speak,” Gorsky said.
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