[Thread] 1. Penny Moore, @nicd_sa: How do we know if a vaccine works against a variant? We take blood from people who will get a vaccine before and after vaccination and analyse the immune responses.
2. For the #JnJ vaccine, we look at immune responses 28 days after vaccination We ask: How well did the antibodies produced as a result of the vaccine, kill the virus?
3. The amount of a certain type of antibody - neutralising antibodies - present in your blood, predicts how well the vaccine will work. The levels matter: the more neutralisasing antibodies, the better the protection.
4. Lab data shows the #Pfizer vaccine works better against the #DeltaVariant than the Beta variant. For the #AstraZeneca vaccine: it also works better against Delta than Beta.
5. The punchline: The vaccines we use in SA (#JnJ and #Pfizer) work against both the Delta and Beta variants, but they work better against the #DeltaVariant.

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More from @miamalan

2 Jul
[Thread] 1. Nicholas Crisp (@HealthZA): How fast can we get #COVID vaccines into the community? We administered 122 701 doses in past 24 hours (that's the nr captured by the #EVDS, so not paper entries yet).
2. The numbers on @healthza's vaccine dashboard will still increase for some of the previous days because we enter backlog paper entries daily (those paper entries are added to the actual day on which the vaccinations happened). sacoronavirus.co.za/latest-vaccine…
3. 300 000 #JnJ vaccines have been administered so far in the basic education sector. Second #Pfizer vaccinations started on Monday at general sites (so for the general roll-out). In the future the government will break down the 1st and 2nd doses on @healthza's vaccine dashboard.
Read 12 tweets
2 Jul
[Thread] 1. Glenda Gray, @MRCza: How effective are different #COVID vaccines @ the Beta variant (B.1.351)?
* #JnJ: 64%
* Novavax: 48.6%
* AstraZeneca: 10%
2. Early lab data shows that the #JnJ vaccine works against both the Beta and Delta variants, but better against the #DeltaVariant.
3. Do we need to boost the #JnJ vaccine with a second shot (currently you only get one shot)? Not yet. Data shows that an immune response is maintained over time from a single shot for up to eight months after vaccination.
Read 5 tweets
1 Jul
[Thread] 1. How does @SAHPRA1 operate?
Helen Rees, board chair:
Governing Acts require Saphra to be:
1. Transparent, fair and objective
2. Allow Sahpra to co-operate with other regulatory authorities
3. Evaluate applications of all medical devices
2. @sahpra is an autonomous entity:
1. Sahpra reports to parliament, the health minister and the Sahpra board
2. The health min appoints Sahpra's board
3. The CEO makes operational decisions, not the board
3. Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela, @SAHPRA1 CEO: Sahpra is internationally recognised for its stringent standards. Part of the reason why the WHO has chosen SA to host the new #mRNA tech transfer hub (for #COVID vaccines), is because of the detailed, rigorous processes of Sahpra.
Read 13 tweets
29 Jun
[Thread] 1. How many JnJ/Pfizer jabs has SA received?
#JnJ: 300 000 (17 Jun) + 1, 253, 600 (24 Jun) = 1, 553, 600
#Pfizer: 325 260 x 4 (3, 10, 17, 24 May) + 636 480 x 3 (31 May, 7, 14 Jun) + 1, 274, 130 (21 Jun) + 1,392, 300 (COVAX, 27 Jun) = 5, 876, 910

TOTAL = 7, 430, 510
2. How many #COVID doses has SA used?
By 5pm on June 28: 2, 308, 225 doses (according to @healthza's dashboard: sacoronavirus.co.za/latest-vaccine…)
3. How many #JnJ and #Pfizer doses do we have left?
By 5pm on June 28:

7, 430, 510 (all the doses we’ve received) - 2, 308, 225 (doses we’ve used) = 5, 122, 285

(Some batches are still being quality tested at the National Control Lab in Bloem)
Read 12 tweets
27 Jun
[Thread]1. For the next 14 days the following Level 4 level #lockdown measures will be in place:
1. All gatherings, both indoors and outdoors = prohibited (only funerals = allowed, no more than 50 people)
2. Beaches and parks will remain open, but no gatherings
3. Curfew = 9pm to 4am
4. Sale of alcohol, both onsite and offsite is prohibited
5. Travel in and out of provinces for leisure is prohibited (business travel is allowed)
6. Restaurants are only allowed to sell takeaways (because patrons can't wear masks while eating)
7. The winter school holidays will be brought forward: Schools will close from Wed, 30 June and all schools have to be closed by the end of this week
8. Contact classes at tertiary institutions will end on Wed
Read 4 tweets
27 Jun
[Thread] #CyrilRamaphosa: Along with other African countries SA has seen a massive resurgence of #COVID infections. The African CDC says a massive 3rd wave is developing across the continent. The Delta variant has now been detected in 5 provinces.
bit.ly/2T9wFZu
2. #CyrilRamaphosa: The Delta variant is rapidly replacing the Beta variant in SA. It has been detected in: Free State, Gauteng, KZN, Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
The variant is twice as transmissible as the original form of the virus. So it infects far more people faster.
3. #CyrilRamaphosa : There is emerging evidence that people who have been infected with the Beta variant are not protected against infection by the Delta variant. So they can get reinfected.
Read 4 tweets

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