The public can have confidence in the UK’s Covid vaccines, despite concerns about the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab’s effectiveness against the South Africa variant, the vaccines minister says.
An early study suggests the jab offers “minimal protection” against mild disease from the South Africa variant.
But Nadhim Zahawi said the vaccines being used appeared to work well against dominant variants in the UK.
South Africa has put its rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on hold.
Its government is waiting for further advice on how best to proceed in light of the preliminary findings from a study suggesting the jab offered limited protection against mild and moderate disease from the variant first discovered in South Africa.
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Scientists say the strain – also known as 501.V2 or B.1.351 – accounts for 90% of new coronavirus cases in the country.
Health minister Edward Argar told BBC Breakfast that 147 cases of the South Africa variant have been found in the UK which was “a very small number but it’s still something we quite rightly have got to keep a very close eye on”.
The version of the virus first discovered in Kent is the dominant strain in the UK.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Zahawi said scientists were working on updated vaccines to offer further protection against new variants.
“While it is right and necessary to prepare for the deployment of an updated vaccine, we can take confidence from the current roll out and the protection it will provide all of us against this terrible disease,” he said.
He added that recent studies showed the vaccines currently being deployed in the UK “appear to work well” against the variants currently dominant in the country.
“We need to be aware that even where a vaccine has reduced efficacy in preventing infection there may still be good efficacy against severe disease, hospitalisation, and death,” he said.
Significant implications’
Dr Mike Tildesley, an infectious disease expert who advises the government, told BBC Radio 4’s today programme that “it’s very possible” the South Africa variant could already be quite widespread in the UK.
The “surge testing” taking place in certain areas in England “really needs to be effective” to halt its spread, he said, but “sadly we may be in a similar situation to the Kent variant” which eventually spread across the whole country.
He added that there are “significant implications” if it is the case that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South Africa variant as it may mean “more restrictions might be needed for longer”.
Additional “surge” testing is taking place in small areas of England including parts of Surrey, Bristol, London, Kent, Hertfordshire, Walsall, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.
Positive cases will be analysed to see if they are caused by the South African variant with results coming back in around seven to 10 days, according to the director of public health in Worcestershire, Dr Kathryn Cobain.
The news from the South Africa is clearly alarming.
But we should be careful about not rushing to judgement just yet.
The numbers involved in the trial were small – so it means there can only be limited confidence in the findings at the moment – and there is a hope that the vaccine will still stop people becoming severely ill.
What is more, the South African variant is nowhere near the dominant type in the UK.
Nearly 150 cases have been identified here – although that is bound to be an underestimate as they have been found via random checks on positive tests that are carried out on between 5% and 10% of cases.
What is more, there are mutations in some of the virus circulating in the UK that mirror the concerning change in the South Africa variant.
That is why the government has introduced testing in the areas where these variants have been found.
It once again illustrates how challenging the pandemic is. It is not going to end with a Big Bang.
But the progress the vaccines still offer is the route out.
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Mr Argar said every study “deserves to be taken very seriously” but there was “no evidence” that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was not effective at preventing severe illness from coronavirus “which is the key thing we are seeking to tackle”.
South Africa’s suspension of the rollout of the vaccine was only “temporary” at this stage and the “context is a little bit different” to the UK where the Kent variant is the dominant strain, he said.
He added that the government was already looking at the possibility of offering annual coronavirus booster jabs to protect against new strains that emerge.
Prof Shabir Madhi, who led the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine trial in South Africa, told the Today programme there was “still some hope” the jab may perform well against the South Africa variant when it comes to protecting against severe disease.
He said he was “extrapolating” that from the efficacy of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which used “similar technology” and had similar immune effects.
The new study of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, involved about 2,000 people who were on average 31 years old.
A spokesman for the pharmaceutical company said it had not yet been able to properly establish whether the jab would prevent severe disease and hospitalisation caused by the South Africa variant because those involved in the study had predominantly been young, healthy adults.
But the company expressed confidence the vaccine would offer protection against serious cases, because it created neutralising antibodies similar to those of other coronavirus vaccines.
Prof Sarah Gilbert, the vaccine’s lead researcher, said a modified version of the jab designed to combat the South Africa variant was likely to be ready to use in the autumn.
