Habemus vaccines
The keys to vaccinating humanity in the current pandemic are the efficacy and safety of each vaccine as well as the limitations of distribution and storage for their deployment to the world population. We already have news that the time for proper immunization against the coronavirus is coming and the months of December and January may mark an important milestone in the race for vaccines against Covid-19.
To date we have 13 vaccines in the last phase of development or phase 3. The United Kingdom became the first country to give the green light with the vaccine authorization from Pfizer / BioNTech and the United States is preparing to authorize the use on an emergency basis by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) of the first vaccines, that of Pfizer with the German BioNTech and will surely be followed by the Moderna-NIH vaccine. These two have an unprecedented development platform for messenger RNA and, like most of them, they require two doses separated by 3 to 4 weeks apart. Distribution may start soon with several million doses for health workers and the elderly, then teachers and essential workers. It is estimated that the general public will have to wait until spring, from April to June next year. However, the full approval of these vaccines will require 6 months.
Of the 4 vaccines closest to approval in the West, apart from the two mentioned above, there are others with more traditional technological platforms, such as that of the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the Johnson & Johnson laboratory.
Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require ultra-cold refrigeration of -20 C and -70 C respectively, a logistical challenge for the so-called Global South, a term of the World Bank, where most of the world’s population is located. These Global South regions have requested the cheapest Astra / Zeneca vaccine, which can be stored in refrigerated temperatures of a home freezer, between 2 and 8 C, but protection results have been inferior with the standard dose.
Western vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-NIH have been purchased mostly by high-income countries and some, like Canada, have said they will donate their remaining doses. Each country is likely to use a combination of vaccines, which will provide some flexibility.
In Latin America, the most important Oxford / Zeneca alliances are Brazil and Argentina. Pfizer-BionTech and Johnson & Johnson will have a presence in Mexico, Chile and Brazil. Moderna’s vaccine will basically be distributed in the Global North.
Russia has offered its vaccines to the poorest countries. There is news that he began giving the vaccine called Sputnik V to doctors, teachers and social workers. Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina are among the countries that could receive this option. Some experts harbor mistrust in this vaccine after the official approval event, last August, before the mandatory phase 3 of the research process was completed.
China has already vaccinated, according to press releases, a million people. This Asian giant has 3 main vaccines; one from the government called Sinopharm and two from private companies that are Cansino and Sinovac mainly destined for that country and Southeast Asia. There is not much information about the criteria that will govern the export to other countries.
Researchers have not skipped the required steps, but they have done so in a very short time, unthinkable a few years ago in the world of immunizations. At present we have better research and development technology. These achievements have been compared as the time it took to cross the Atlantic by boat (lapses of getting previous vaccines) in contrast to travel by plane (current vaccines).
Distribution logistics will also depend on factors of economic interests and nationalisms, in addition to the economic capacity of each country. Not all countries can negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies, which is why the richest nations have secured more than 50% of the vaccines. If all the vaccines requested by the US work, this country would have to vaccinate more than 2 times its population. According to some published figures, a total of 7 billion doses have already been contracted globally.
The cost per dose of the different vaccines varies from almost $ 4 for the cheapest Astra / Zeneca, $ 10 for the Russian Sputnik V and Johnson & Johnson, $ 20 for Pfizer-BionTech, $ 30 for the Chinese Coronavac and the more expensive, $ 37 for Moderna. To ensure a more equitable distribution, the Global Fund for Global Access to Vaccines for Covid-19 (Covax, for its acronym in English) has been created, which is a public-private initiative to promote access to vaccines against covid -19 evenly in the world. This alliance plans to ensure immunization of 20% of the needs of each developing country. Some experts believe that if a more equitable distribution is not ensured, the pandemic will not be controlled for another 3–4 years.
It must be remembered that the 95% effectiveness that some vaccines have achieved refers to the ability to avoid symptomatic Covid. It is not clear in what percentage they avoid the asymptomatic infection as well as the transmission. It is also unclear how long protective immunity will last.
Another problem that must be overcome is the attitude of people to avoid getting vaccinated, due to misinformation or the inevitable conspiracy theories. The vaccine will help reduce deaths, but it is an additional factor to other public health measures, although the most promising in the fight against the pandemic, so we cannot lower our guard until we reach a level of herd immunity reasonable.
The vaccines mentioned are effective and safe according to the rigorous studies to which they were subjected in record time and undoubtedly appear like a ray of light at the end of a dark year, 10 months after the pandemic broke out. Let’s fight together against the enemy of anti-vaccine misinformation.
@santiagobacci
