South Africa has hit pause on its planned rollout of a million jabs of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID vaccine scheduled for later this week. It follows the findings of a small study that says it wouldn’t provide much protection against mild and moderate cases of the country’s highly contagious strain. The nation’s next steps will be decided after receiving more advice. Health Minister Greg Hunt is unconcerned by the findings. Our regulator is yet to approve the Oxford vaccine for use, but 53.8 million doses have been pre-booked in anticipation. Growing in volume is commentary that vaccine strategies will need to adjust to the mutating virus. Some experts say the goal should be protecting vulnerable people against severe cases of COVID – which is what AstraZeneca/Oxford says its vaccine will do.