As volunteers received injections developed at the University of Oxford in Britain, Africa's first participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial began Wednesday, while health officials said the continent of 1.3 billion is just as important as the rest of the world.
The massive experiment is being carried out in South Africa. The region has almost a third of Africa's confirmed cases with over 106,000, including over 2,100 fatalities. Africa late Tuesday disclosed its largest death toll of 111 in a single day.
The African continent now has almost 325,000 cases, as nations relax restrictions for people who complain they must feed their families under economic pressure.
Cuts in research materials and medical supplies remain a concern as Africa could emerge as the next hot spot in the world, health officials said.
The contagion has been delayed in Africa "but is picking up speed very quickly," said on Wednesday by Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director John Nkengasong, with a steep increase in the number of cases and deaths, Cara Anna of AP reported, as posted on Yahoo News.
South Africa has set about vaccinating 2,000 people with the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. Fifty of the subjects have HIV.
University of Witwatersrand vaccinology professor Shabir Madhi said during virtual media conference that they started screening the subjects for the Oxford 1 COVID-19 vaccine trial last week, and the first batch will be given shots this week.
Brazil is also planning its own experiment with Oxford, while in a mass trial of up to 30,000 people the United States is preparing to study another vaccine. Wits is partnering in the South African trial with the University of Oxford and with the Oxford Jenner Institute.
Hopes are that the participation of South Africa in vaccine trials will ensure that the region has access to an effective medication and is not left behind. South Africa is the second country outside the UK to take part in the trial in Oxford after Brazil launched its research on Wednesday.
The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, also known as AZD1222, was initially developed by scientists at the University of Oxford, who now collaborate on development and manufacturing with AstraZeneca. There are more than 4,000 enrolled participants in the UK, with an additional 10,000 participants planned to be enrolled, the university said in a statement Wednesday.
There are currently no approved drugs or treatments for the sickness caused by the new coronavirus, but over a dozen vaccines from more than 100 candidates around the world are being tested in humans.
