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11:36 a. M.
Saturday 12 December 2020
Books – Ahmad Jumaa:
Dr. Hatem Al-Wardani, CEO of the international company “AstraZeneca” in Egypt, said that discussions are currently taking place between the Egyptian government and the competent authorities to provide the Egyptian part of the possible vaccine that the company developed in cooperation with the British University of Oxford.
Al-Wardani added, in exclusive statements to Masrawy, on Saturday, that: “The Egyptian Ministry of Health is willing to provide the vaccine in the largest possible quantity as soon as possible in coordination with independent international institutions responsible for the fair distribution of the vaccine. ”, Explaining that the quantities and the expected date for obtaining the vaccine was administered by the Egyptian authorities at that time.
Last Wednesday, Dr. Hala Zayed, Minister of Population Health, spoke with the British Ambassador to Egypt, Geoffrey Adams, and Al-Wardani, the provision of the Coronavirus vaccine, after its effectiveness, in which he is working AstraZeneca, especially for priority groups and those with risk factors.
The Corona vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, is now a promising candidate for accreditation in the Corona vaccine career.
The CEO of “AstraZenica” in Egypt stressed that there are no obstacles the company faces in providing the vaccine in Egypt, and highlighted the support for Egypt to obtain its share of the potential vaccine.
On the plan to market the vaccine and distribute it among the countries of the world, Al-Wardani said: “We are committed to providing the potential vaccine on a large scale and fair around the world without profit during the period of the epidemic, and the company is rapidly moving forward in manufacturing with a capacity of 3 billion doses in 2021, according to required Authorities Approvals. “
He noted that the company has manufactured more than 50 million doses, and it is expected to bring this number closer to 200 million doses by the end of 2020, which will be packaged in the coming months.
Regarding storage, Al-Wardani pointed out that the doses are stored, transported and handled under normal cooling conditions (2-8 degrees Celsius). We also have 12 supply chains including 20 factories, including those of AstraZeneca.
On the date of approval of the vaccine and the beginning of its distribution, Al-Wardani said that the matter depends on “the approval of the world health authorities”, referring to waiting for the approval of the European Medicines Agency.
The CEO of “AstraZenica” in Egypt spoke about the effectiveness and degree of safety of the vaccine, saying that preliminary results of clinical trials conducted by the University of Oxford were published on December 8 in the scientific journal “The Lancet. “, and showed that the vaccine is safe and effective in preventing Corona symptoms, and that it protects against severe symptoms and the need for hospitalization.
He noted that it is scientifically known that the figure of 60% is the minimum that he has or more than him. Vaccines of all types are considered effective, and therefore are approved by world health authorities, and therefore none of the vaccines when they reach 60% or more effectiveness, are considered successful in all. Measure and are authorized to trade.
He explained that there are factors that are taken into consideration to measure the effectiveness of vaccines when circulating among the public, which is consideration of the sustainability of the response, safety, ease of use, storage and transportation.
Al-Wardani indicated that the vaccine was tested by applying the vaccine protocol with two groups of volunteers with a different dose system between the two groups, and the two systems showed effectiveness in preventing infection with Covid-19, and there was no need to reserve volunteers in hospitals and no serious infections were recorded among the participants reaching 11,636 volunteers in the two groups in the UK and Brazil.
He said that the first group was given the vaccine with a half-dose system, then after a month they were given a second full dose, and this regimen showed 90% effectiveness, while the second group of participants was given a full dose, and after a month, a second full dose was shown, and this regimen was 62% effective. Therefore, the mean results for both groups were 70%.
In conclusion, Al-Wardani said: “In all cases, we continue to collect and analyze results to confirm effectiveness and determine the duration of protection.”
