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* South Africa puts AstraZeneca vaccinations on hold
* Study: shot gives minimal protection against mild
infection
* Britain, France, Germany, Australia voice support for shot
* Concerns rise over longer fight against virus
(Updates with governments voicing support)
By Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Western governments rushed to
offer support for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination after
South Africa halted its roll-out when research showed it offered
minimal protection against mild infection from a variant
spreading there.
The arrival of vaccines has given hope that scientists can
tame a pandemic that has killed 2.3 million people worldwide.
But if vaccines are less effective against new variants, they
may need to be tweaked and people may need booster shots.
South Africa announced its pause after researchers from the
University of Witwatersrand and the University of Oxford found
that the AstraZeneca vaccine provided only minimal protection
against mild or moderate infection from the B.1.351 variant, now
the dominant form of the virus in that country.
The research is not yet peer reviewed and did not provide
data on older people most likely to die or need hospitalisation.
There was no data on whether the vaccine would prevent severe
illness, and researchers said that was still possible.
"This study confirms that the pandemic coronavirus will find
ways to continue to spread in vaccinated populations, as
expected," said Andrew Pollard, chief investigator on the Oxford
vaccine trial.
"But, taken with the promising results from other studies in
South Africa using a similar viral vector, vaccines may continue
to ease the toll on health care systems by preventing severe
disease."
SERIOUS INFECTIONS
French Health Minister Olivier Veran voiced support for the
AstraZeneca vaccine, arguing it provided sufficient protection
against "nearly all the variants" of the virus.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said current evidence
suggests all three vaccines approved in Europe - which include
AstraZeneca - provided effective protection against serious
infections.
Britain and Australia urged calm, citing evidence that the
vaccines prevented grave illness and death, while AstraZeneca
said it believed its vaccine could protect against severe
disease.
"We think that both the vaccines that we're currently using
are effective in, as I say, in stopping serious disease and
death," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters.
Britain also uses the Pfizer shot.
"We also think in particular in the case of the Oxford
AstraZeneca vaccine that there's good evidence that it is
stopping transmission, as well, I think 67% reduction in
transmission."
Australia is expected approve the use of the AstraZeneca
vaccine within days and expressed confidence in it.
"There is currently no evidence to indicate a reduction in
the effectiveness of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines
in preventing severe disease and death. That is the fundamental
task, to protect the health," Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
But if vaccines do not work as effectively as hoped against
new and emerging variants, then the world could be facing a much
longer - and more expensive - battle against the virus than
previously thought.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was the big hope for Africa as it is
cheap and easy to store and transport. South Africa, which had
hoped to roll out the AstraZeneca shot this month, is storing
around 1 million doses it has received from the Serum Institute
of India.
The B.1.351 variant dominant in South Africa, also known as
20I/501Y.V2, is also circulating in at least 40 other countries,
including the United States. Other major variants include one
first found in Britain, known as 20I/501Y.V1, and one found in
Brazil known as P.1.
Austria warned against non-essential travel to its Alpine
province of Tyrol because of an outbreak of the South African
variant there. Cases were also detected north of Paris, forcing
one school to close.
VACCINE SHOCK
An analysis of infections by the South African variant
showed there was only a 22% lower risk of developing
mild-to-moderate COVID-19, more than 14 days after being
vaccinated with the AstraZeneca shot, versus those given a
placebo.
Protection against moderate-severe disease, hospitalisation
or death could not be assessed in the study of around 2,000
volunteers who had a median age of 31, as the target population
were at such low risk.
Professor Shabir Madhi, lead investigator on the AstraZeneca
trial in South Africa, said the vaccine's similarity to another
produced by Johnson & Johnson, which reduced severe disease by
85%, suggested it would still prevent serious illness or death.
"There's still some hope that the AstraZeneca vaccine might
well perform as well as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in a
different age group demographic that I address of severe
disease," he told BBC radio.
Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the University of
Oxford, said efforts were under way to develop a new generation
of booster shot vaccines that will allow protection against
emerging variants.
"This is the same issue that is faced by all of the vaccine
developers, and we will continue to monitor the emergence of new
variants that arise in readiness for a future strain change."
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton; editing by
Michael Holden, Angus MacSwan, Nick Macfie and Giles Elgood)
