Covid-19 Trial Restarted in South Africa After Safety Concerns
Wits University has resumed vaccinating participants in the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine trial after it was given the go-ahead by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority and two ethics committees. The trial was paused globally almost a week ago after an independent data and safety monitoring committee recommendation to review the case of an ill participant. The Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-trial is a first for Africa and one of 268 other candidate vaccines researched and tested round the world. Following the trial's announcement, Shabir Madhi, Professor of Vaccinology at Wits University and Director of the South Africa Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit and who leads the trial, said: "This is a landmark moment for South Africa and Africa at this stage of the Covid-19 pandemic." South Africa currently has confirmed 655,572 cases of Covid-19 of which 15,772 were fatal while 585,303 resulted in recoveries.
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