South Africa suspends AstraZeneca vaccine plan

South Africa has suspended plans to inoculate its frontline health workers with the AstraZeneca vaccine after a small clinical trial suggested that it isn't effective in preventing mild to moderate illness from the dominant variant in the country. The suspension threw South Africa's vaccination plans into confusion just one week after the country received its first one million doses of the vaccine. 

Early results of a small clinical trial showed that the shot did not prevent mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 in young adults, according to an announcement by the University of Witwatersrand, which conducted the test. Officials said this virus variant is more contagious, and evidence is emerging that it may be more virulent; recent studies have also shown it can infect people who have survived the original form of the virus.