Pfizer has revealed burning details about its COVID vaccine – Diseases

On Wednesday, EC President Ursula von der Leyen announced the conclusion of a fourth contract with Biontech and Pfizer, under which Europe will make an initial purchase of 200 million doses of its future COVID-19 vaccine, with the ability to request an additional 100 million doses. The vaccines will be administered when they are shown to be safe and effective against the coronavirus. At this stage, many questions remain about the effectiveness of this vaccine. In response to the BTV program “This Sunday”, Pfizer responded to some of them.

The company position comes directly from Lisa Margaret O’Neill, who has worked for Pfizer for 15 years as global director of media relations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“As of November 8, the survey covered 43,538 participants, with 42% of the participants from around the world and 30% of those in the United States from various racial and ethnic backgrounds, ranging in age from 12 to 85. So far no serious concerns have been observed. Taking this into account, however, it must be said that some undesirable situations, corresponding to what can be expected by chance, have been observed when using a sample from a population of this size, age and age. comorbidities. “, they write from the company.

The EC has decided to sign a contract for the supply of the vaccine to Pfizer

If the vaccine is successful, it will be given in two doses with a three-week break between injections, and people who have not been affected by COVID are currently being recruited for the clinical trial. “Seasonal vaccination is definitely a potential scenario, but we still have a long way to go to learn about the disease, the virus, and the protective nature of the vaccine before we can come to any definitive conclusions. We don’t know how the virus will change and how long it will last. Therefore, it is important that vaccine technology is such that it allows us to provide revaccination if necessary, as well as to be able to respond in a timely manner to any changes in the virus. The good news is that mRNA technology gives us the opportunity for both “, point out” Pfizer “.

It is clear how long we will be protected from COVID-19 if we receive the Pfizer vaccine

When asked if the vaccine would prevent the virus from spreading to people with milder symptoms and if it would be applicable to people who have already had COVID-19 once, Pfizer said clinical trials were still pending. One of the big problems is related to the storage and transportation of the vaccine. We have special temperature freight forwarders that control the temperature using dry ice, maintaining the recommended conditions of -70 degrees Celsius for 10 days. We will use GPS-supported temperature sensors on each thermal transmitter with a control tower that will track the location and temperature of each shipment. “GPS devices will allow Pfizer to act proactively, preventing unwanted deviations before they occur,” said the company.

However, according to Reuters, a freezer costs between $ 5,000 and $ 15,000. And in the air of the program “This Saturday” the director of the Institute of Microbiology of BAS, Prof. Penka Petrova commented that Bulgaria does not have this type of freezer in all medical institutions, and the dry ice that is used is very expensive.

It was clear when the Bulgarian prototype of the COVID-19 vaccine will be ready

“Once the practice with our vaccine is received from the heat carrier, there will be 3 storage options: ultra low temperature freezers, which are already commercially available and can extend the shelf life up to 6 months. The vaccine can be stored for every 5 days in cool conditions within 2-8 ° C. Coolers are very often available in hospitals. Pfizer heat transmitters, where doses arrive, can be optimized and used for temporary storage by recharging. dry ice in 15 days “.

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The company is not yet able to disclose information on the agreed prices for Europe, but what would be the result for Bulgaria not only for the purchase but also for the receipt and maintenance of the vaccines, the question is currently open. “We are moving at the speed of science and only science is guiding all decisions regarding our vaccine candidate. There is an emergency use permit application pending with the US Food and Drug Administration in which the expected level of security will be reached in the third week of November ”.