South African scientists will meet on Thursday to discuss a laboratory study that suggests the dominant local coronavirus variant may reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine by two-thirds, a health ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

"I do know that our scientists will be meeting to discuss it (the Pfizer study) and they will advise the minister," spokesperson Popo Maja said.

"We are not going to be releasing a statement until advised by our scientists. We will also be guided by the regulator."