Fiocruz delivers 1.3 million doses of the March vaccine and justifies the delay

Last Thursday (1), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) announced that this Friday (2) 1.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca / Oxford immunizer will be delivered to the National Immunization Program (PNI). Previously, 2.8 million doses of the vaccine had been administered.

Originally, Fiocruz’s idea was to deliver 15 million doses in March. The director of the Institute of Biotechnology in Immunobiologicals (Bio-Manguinhos, linked to Fiocruz), Maurício Zuma, declared that this last batch was delayed, due to the malfunction of a sealer (in charge of sealing the vaccine vials).

What happens is that the machine was stopped for a week, after mistakenly discarding bottles that were in good condition. As a result, the Institute had to buy parts in Italy. The institute is responsible for the final process of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine, which includes the formulation, filling, engraving, labeling and packaging operations, in the middle of a R $ 1.35 billion contract.

It should also be mentioned that Bio-Manguinhos has two vaccine filling lines: the first, where the technical problem arose, works in two shifts. The second, which came into operation recently, works in one shift (at least for now). Together, the lines produce 900,000 doses a day, but before it is delivered to the PNI, the vaccine undergoes quality analyzes that usually take about three weeks.

The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine

Oxford’s vaccine against COVID-19 was named AZD1222 or Covishield. It is an immunizing agent that uses an inactivated virus, adenovirus, as a vector for part of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic material, which produces the protein that generates the immune response, and the only absolute contraindication is having a history of severe disease. allergy to one of the components of the vaccine.

In conversation with Canaltech Last February, Dr. Bernardo Almeida, infectious diseases physician and medical director of the Hilab clinical analysis laboratory, cleared up all doubts about this vaccine. At that time, the expert explained that the vaccine requires two doses because the second dose is capable of amplifying the immune response, increasing the effectiveness of the vaccination. Also, the term of immunity is likely to increase over time.

The infectologist in question also explained that the effectiveness of the vaccine was 70.4%, which means that a vaccinated person is 70.4% less likely to contract the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in compared to a person who does not receive the vaccine. For example, considering that a city of 1 million inhabitants will have 100,000 cases of COVID-19, if the entire population is immunized, the vaccine will prevent 70,000 of these cases.

Source: O Globo