Wits University gets a taste of their own medicine

Some senior clinicians of Wits University have volunteered to participate in South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccine trial.

According to a statement released by Wits University, the senior clinicians in the Faculty of Health Sciences involved in the trials were screened on 10 July and those found eligible to participate in the trials were vaccinated on 14 July at the Soweto trial site. “It’s important to demonstrate how urgent and safe these [Covid-19 vaccine] studies are, and I have enough confidence in the science to put myself on the line,” said leading HIV clinician and divisional director of Ezintsha at Wits University, Professor Francois Venter.

Research director at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre, Dr June Fabian is also one of the clinicians who participated. In 2018, she was one of the scientists involved in the world’s first intentional HIV positive liver transplants. She said, “For me it’s about supporting local scientists to do world-class science. I think it’s amazing that South Africa is a Covid-19 vaccine trial site and to be a part of that is very exciting. We must support each other as a Wits community and we must support our colleagues.”

Wits Professor of Vaccinology, Shabir Madhi stressed the importance of having such vaccine trials in as many countries as possible to ensure it worked for everyone. He explained, “A number of past vaccines have been shown to be highly effective in high-income settings, but when evaluated in low- and middle-income settings [such as South Africa], the vaccines were found to be much less effective and, at times, not effective at all.” Madhi added that the legacy of vaccines ultimately showed that they didn’t necessarily work similarly across different populations.

Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits and Professor of Surgery, Martin Veller, who is also participating, said discovering a vaccine for Covid-19 was the best way to beat the virus. He added, “The coronavirus pandemic has caused massive disruption in the world to public health and economies. As a consequence, a vaccine is probably the only way to manage in the medium term. We need to get a trial done quickly.” Veller felt strongly that Africa needed to be involved in vaccine development so there was a moral obligation for the continent to be able to access the vaccine once it became available.

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