South Africa received one million AstraZeneca doses last week and had hoped to start vaccinating health workers soon but results that are yet to be peer-reviewed show minimal protection against mild or moderate infection from the B.1.351 variant.
Experienced batsman Faf du Plessis says South Africa must master the unfamiliar conditions and home captain Babar Azam when they play their first test in Pakistan since 2007 in the opening match of a two-game series that starts in Karachi on Tuesday.