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Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine reached all member states of the European Union on Saturday, including Hungary, Péter Vereckei, CEO of Pfizer Hungary, told public media.
The first “symbolic shipment” contains 9,750 doses of vaccine, but in the coming weeks, vaccines will be delivered regularly to government-designated vaccination points under the terms of the contract, Vereckei said of the MTI.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced in March that they would jointly develop a vaccine against the coronavirus, and 280 days later the first vaccines arrived in Hungary, he said.
The executive also spoke about the fact that 44,000 volunteers participated in clinical trials during development, and healthcare professionals from 150 clinical centers worked to make the trials successful. In clinical trials, the vaccine was 95% effective, and generally only local reactions occurred after vaccination.
On Saturday, the first Hungarian citizen received the vaccine.
What is the new vaccine?
The vaccine should be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, stored at this temperature for six months, then at 2-8 degrees Celsius for an additional five days, and stable for six hours after reconstitution. The drug is made using a new technology called an mRNA-type vaccine, which has the mechanism of tricking cells by producing only one viral protein rather than the entire virus. Therefore, the defensive reaction develops much more quickly. Another characteristic of these vaccines is that they induce a stronger immune response than conventional vaccines. The advantage of mRNA vaccines is that they are easy to produce in large quantities because the process is shorter than with conventional vaccines, a few months instead of 1-2 years.
Most experts consider mRNA vaccines to be completely safe, even those who caution against caution: vaccines made with this technology have only just begun to be tested in humans. So far, 75,000 volunteers have participated in the trial and for the rarer side effects to be revealed, it would have to be tested in a significantly larger mass, but the vaccine is unlikely to induce more severe symptoms.
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