When it comes to vaccines, it’s better to stick to the facts

The Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Vaccines (VMAC) as well as the two other MACs are concerned about the extent of vaccine hesitancy in the country.

A recent survey conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council found that only 52.3% of a cross-section of urbanised and rural populations were planning to be vaccinated – possibly one of the lowest vaccine acceptancy rates in the world. The success of the COVID-19 vaccine programme is critically dependent on public trust and public partnership in what is essentially a novel public health programme – the mass rollout of a new vaccine for adults.

Undermining the programme by uninformed “pseudo-activist” grandstanding can only further damage the fragile public confidence about COVID-19 vaccines. One need only look back in recent history to see the damage wrought by uninformed, wannabe COVID-19 “experts” such as former United States President Donald Trump.

The plea is certainly not to stifle criticism of the government or the vaccine programme. In fact, the VMAC itself has, on a number of occasions, criticised various aspects of government policy. For example, take the Covax deposit issue, which is in the public domain under earlier advisories published on the health department’s website.

The VMAC was established as an independent scientific think tank of top national experts, as well as a panel of international experts, in the field of COVID-19-related vaccine issues. Its members serve in a voluntary capacity, function completely independently of the government, and declare no conflicts of interest. Its purpose is exclusively to provide expert, evidence-based, scientific guidance for the government to plan and execute its vaccine programme.

Three items in the last issue of the SA Jewish Report sanctimoniously adopt a moral stance of the right to speak out against the government. Few reasonable people would disagree with this. But criticism, to be of any value, must be based on authentic science and scientific facts. As the late senator, Daniel Moynihan, so wisely quipped, “You are entitled to your opinion. But you aren’t entitled to your own facts.”

On 3 July, I wrote a letter to the chief rabbi informing him of my resignation from his informal medical advisory body. My reason was that it would “be totally inappropriate for me to be recognised as a medical adviser to your office”. This followed his submission to Business Day on 29 June of an opinion piece which was replete with misinformation and, in my view, was also distasteful in the extreme. These were repeated in his interview responses in the last issue of the SA Jewish Report.

For example, what’s glaringly omitted in any of his submissions is the pivotal role that the B.1.351 (Beta) variant played in the vaccine strategy of the country. He went on to say that evidence was available that the AstraZeneca vaccine would have prevented serious illness, hospitalisation, and death. No such evidence exists, only vague speculation by some. He laments the fact that so many middle-income countries are so far ahead of South Africa, but omits the inconvenient truth that vaccines widely unregistered at the time – from China and Russia – were used, vaccines which had no evidence of activity against the Beta variant.

The chief rabbi’s piece was drawn to my attention, inter alia, by a member of my VMAC. As chairperson of the VMAC, I was unfortunately compelled, in the public interest, to correct at least some of the glaring items of misinformation. It certainly was unfortunate, as the very last thing I wanted was to be involved in a vitriolic to-and-fro correspondence duel with uninformed journalists pursuing their own narratives.

As far as the Jewish community is concerned, I continue to cherish the responsibility that the community has given to me to advise it on COVID-19. I have, for more than a year and a half, willingly, and in fact feel privileged to have been able to volunteer my services and professional and scientific knowledge. I have provided scientifically based advice on COVID-19 to schools, shuls, organisations and, of course, to many individuals who have contacted me.

As chairperson of the VMAC, a member of the general MAC on COVID-19, and a number of other scientific forums, I’m fortunately in a position to provide to the community updated scientific information and data on COVID-19 to clearly explain the facts and sort them out from the plethora of background noise often emanating from the media and unqualified “experts”.

I will be using the South African Jewish Board of Deputies Facebook page every Wednesday at 12:00 to give a weekly update on COVID-19. It can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/SAJBD

• Barry Schoub is professor emeritus of virology at the University of the Witwatersrand, and was the founding director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. He chairs the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Vaccines. This article is written in his private capacity. He’s not a member of the health department, and receives no remuneration for his advisory services to the department. He reports no conflicts of interest.