Photo: Alan Winde / Twitter
Photo: Alan Winde / Twitter
Third wave loading? South Africa’s vaccine rollout was hit by a hammer blow on Sunday, as new data suggested that the AstraZeneca jabs are ‘ineffective’ for preventing mild cases of COVID-19 (in the SA variant). The planned vaccination schedule has been shelved – and Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has been left crestfallen by these developments.
AstraZeneca updates – vaccine developments take the ‘Winde’ out of Premier’s sails
Although Professor Salim Abdool Karim claimed this was ‘no cause for doom and gloom’, you can perhaps forgive the provincial leader for feeling a little downbeat. Just one week ago, the AstraZeneca vials landed in South Africa, signalling a very literal ‘shot in the arm’ for our route out of lockdown. That avenue has now hit a dead-end.
Of course, other vaccines are set to come online soon – with the Johnson & Johnson jabs likely to be in SA by Friday. This brand has a proven high-efficacy rate against the COVID-19 variant found in South Africa, and it has the potential to get our vaccine drive back on course within a matter of days. Winde, however, is still concerned about other troubling factors.
Will a third wave of COVID-19 reach the Western Cape?
The pensive Premier believes that there may well be a stigma attached to South Africa, given the origins of a variant that is throwing a spanner in the grand works of vaccine production. Winde claims this news is bad for business, and more importantly, undermines his department’s attempts to ‘control a third wave’ of COVID-19 infections:
He told Cape Talk that a resurgence in coronavirus could arrive before anyone in the Western Cape receives a vaccine:
“It is a massive blow to our economy and to our business confidence. The world is going to look at us slightly differently again. We’ve had a lot of scrambling meetings this morning [to decide] what we do now. At the same time, we’ve got to make sure that we start mitigating the risk of the third wave [which could arrive in May or June].“
“The backup is Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. I’ve got a meeting on Friday with SAHPRA to find out what’s in the pipeline. Right now, it looks like the third wave is going to come before we’re vaccinating. That’s not where I want it to be.“
Alan Winde
Here's a look at my week ahead ?? pic.twitter.com/2iLNTUWRLD
— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde) February 8, 2021
