Updated: December 20, 2020 7:47:28 pm
Swab collection for ongoing Covid-19 testing inside an NMMC mobile testing facility in Vashi (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)
The United States was shot in the arm in its fight against Covid-19 after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorization granted (USA) to a second vaccine against the new coronavirus. The infection has claimed more than 316,000 lives in the country and continues to infect almost 2 lakhs a day.
Healthcare workers in the US will be inoculated with Moderna’s mRNA vaccine as early as Monday, exactly one week later. Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine launched in the most affected country Covid-19. While Pfizer’s vaccine should be stored at -70 degrees Celsius, a much lower temperature than standard freezers, the Moderna vaccine requires -20 degrees Celsius.
The University of Oxford’s AZD1222 vaccine, produced by AstraZeneca, is also likely to receive UK regulatory approval for implementation in early 2021, according to The Daily Telegraph. The development will come as a confidence booster for India, as the vaccine (here called Covishield) is being produced as part of a partnership with the Serum Institute of India.
Verification of the status of the coronavirus vaccine (Covid-19):
Modern Covid-19 Vaccine
Moderna will become the second company to begin inoculating the public on Monday, and the vaccine is already being distributed to more than 3,700 sites. A request for full approval is expected next year, Moderna said in a statement.
The vaccine has been recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel for use in people 18 years of age and older. However, the FDA cautioned that the vaccine should not be given to people with a known history of a serious allergic reaction to any component of the injection.
Moderna’s vaccine has been found to be around 95 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 and offers compelling evidence that it could prevent severe cases of the infection. Furthermore, large-scale clinical trials did not show serious long-term side effects.
Moderna expects to be able to produce 20 million doses for the US by the end of the year, and another 85 million to 100 million doses in the US in the first quarter.
An RT-PCR test is being carried out at Trilokpuri in New Delhi (Express photo)
Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine
More than 128,000 people were administered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week in the United States, even as the FDA began investigating the reasons behind five people who showed allergic reactions to the injection. This prompted the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to warn that anyone who has had a severe reaction to a Covid-19 vaccine should not receive the second dose.
This comes days after Britain’s regulatory body said that anyone with a history of anaphylaxis or severe allergic reactions to a drug or food should not get the Pfizer vaccine. Recently, a video of a Tennessee head nurse fainting at a press conference after receiving the Pfizer injection went viral, raising further questions about the safety of the vaccine, which has now been approved in as many as eight countries. .
After Britain, Canada, Bahrain, the United States, Mexico, Malaysia and Switzerland, Israel became the latest country to begin its inoculation campaign, aiming to vaccinate about 60,000 people a day.
Sandra Lindsay, left, a nurse at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, is inoculated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by Dr. Michelle Chester (AP)
Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine
After Pfizer, the UK is expected to authorize the Oxford vaccine before December 28 or 29 after final data is provided on Monday, The Daily Telegraph reported. “The Oxford vaccine is expected to be approved within Christmas days, which will start a massive push to hit millions of people in January,” the report said.
The AZD1222 vaccine will be the last of the pioneers to receive approval, and regulators have taken longer to evaluate due to differences in efficacy rates in separate dosing regimens, ranging from 62 to 90 percent.
However, the University of Oxford earlier this week said the candidate vaccine had a better immune response when a two full dose regimen was used rather than a full dose followed by a half dose booster, citing data from trials from Phase I / II. However, the latest details did not reference the interim results of the late-stage trial published two weeks ago.
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“Booster doses of the vaccine have been shown to induce stronger antibody responses than a single dose. The vaccine stimulates extensive antibody and T-cell functions, ”the university said in a statement.
If the UK grants regulatory approval, it is likely to increase the chances that the vaccine candidate will obtain the necessary approvals in India. The Serum Institute of India has said that the Covid-19 vaccination campaign is likely to start in India in January and that the company, which is testing and manufacturing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, was expected to obtain emergency use authorization. for the end of the month.
Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine
Johnson & Johnson, lagging behind rivals Pfizer and Moderna Inc in the vaccine race, announced earlier this week that it had enrolled about 45,000 participants for a late-stage trial of its single-dose candidate and was waiting for data. provisional for the end of January.
The company said a single injection vaccine would simplify the delivery of millions of doses compared to rivals such as Pfizer, Moderna, Oxford that require two doses.
J&J also said it planned to submit an emergency use authorization request to the US Food and Drug Administration in February if the study data was safe and effective. In October, J&J halted its trial for more than a week after a patient developed an “unexplained illness” during the study.
Separately, the company is conducting late-stage trials in Britain to test a two-dose regimen of its Covid-19 vaccine among thousands of volunteers.
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