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The new variant of the coronavirus has upended government plans to start vaccinating health care workers. While the health ministry has switched from the AstraZeneca to the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, supply of doses is a challenge.
The South African Covid-19 variant has thrown government plans into disarray as it seeks to swap one million AstraZeneca doses for Johnson & Johnson’s version.
The health ministry had planned to begin vaccinating 1.2 million healthcare workers with the AstraZeneca vaccine, but trials showed the vaccine is far less effective against the 501Y.V2 strain. The variant, first discovered here, can escape antibodies generated from previous infection.