The infectious disease doctor in Johannesburg thought that he and his country would only have to hold on a little longer. A million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine had arrived from India. The first injections were set for Wednesday. After weeks of rich countries vaccinating doctors and nurses against the coronavirus, a respite from the anxiety and the trauma seemed to be nearing in South Africa, too. Then, all of a sudden, the plans were shelved. The country’s leaders on Sunday ordered the rollout of the vaccine halted , after a clinical trial failed to show that it could prevent people from getting mild or moderate cases of Covid-19 caused by the coronavirus variant that has overrun the country. “It was a real body blow,” the infectious disease doctor, Jeremy Nel, said. “The promise of a vaccine, albeit quite delayed compared to many other countries, was a light at […]