In the wake of a surge of COVID cases in the country, specifically the Western Cape and Gauteng, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAPHRA) is awaiting a response from Pfizer before considering an application for an Omicron-specific booster vaccine, which has shown promising results in fighting infections caused by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
Daily Maverick reports the trial was only for adults. In a statement last week, Pfizer said serum collected from participants seven days after administration of the booster showed a substantial increase in the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 neutralising antibody response above pre-booster levels. It was well tolerated, with a safety profile similar to the original vaccine.
Additional data measuring responses a month of having received the booster vaccine are expected soon, said Pfizer.
CEO Albert Bourla said: “While we expect more mature immune response data from the clinical trial in the coming weeks, we are pleased to see encouraging responses just one week after vaccination in younger and older adults.
“These early data suggest our bivalent vaccine is anticipated to provide better protection against currently circulating variants than the original vaccine, and potentially help to curb future surges in cases this (northern hemisphere) winter.”
Spokesperson for the SAHPRA Youven Gouden said they were awaiting an answer from Pfizer before considering their application to register the booster locally.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) explained that the estimated reproductive number for the virus is the number of people who will catch it from an infected person. If this number is one, the number of infections remain stable. If it is less than one, the number of cases decline, and if greater than one, it is an indication of an increase in cases.
The latest report shows this number is above one for Gauteng and the Western Cape. But the report adds that the number of COVID tests being done is at the lowest number since the start of the pandemic, which might mean these numbers are an underestimate.
In the NICD’s weekly testing summary, analysts said the positivity rate (the percentage of cases testing positive out of all tests done) had jumped to 7.3% from 6.6% the previous week. The highest positivity rate was found in Gauteng (around 10%), followed by the Western Cape (8%) and Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, each on 7%.
The latest available data from the the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) showed a sharp increase of SARS-CoV-2 particles in wastewater in the Western Cape.
MRC president Professor Glenda Gray said there had been noticeable spikes n the concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in several wastewater treatment plants in Cape Town, as well as in the Western Cape towns of De Doorns, Rawsonville and Worcester during the past week. These concentrations have not been seen for many months, she added.
“The increase in SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in our wastewater programme coincides with an increase in the proportion of positive COVID-19 tests recently reported by the NICD,” Gray said.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
COVID cases on the rise in the Western Cape
Gauteng reports 10 cases of Omicron sublineage XAY
NICD analysis finds Omicron subvariant increases risk of reinfection