The South African Medical Research Council said it cannot access the country’s Covid-19 vaccination data and it is working to amend a data-sharing agreement with the Department of Health.
The inability to access the data may impinge on the organisation’s ability to determine the impact of the omicron variant on mortality, it said in a statement on Monday.
The council produces a weekly report on national excess deaths, a measure of mortality above the historical average that is seen as a more accurate measure of the impact of Covid-19 than official data.
“The country is missing an opportunity to evaluate the efficacy of vaccines in the context of omicron, Debbie Bradshaw, chief specialist scientist at the council and a co-author of the weekly mortality report, said by text message.
COMMENTS 1
You must be signed in and an Insider Gold subscriber to comment.
SUBSCRIBE NOW SIGN IN
It is a closely guarded secret that only the esteemed COVID COMMAND COUNCIL MEMBERS have access to — You are not allowed to know !!
17
1
End of comments.