[ad_1]
The European Commission will approve tomorrow a contract for the supply of the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, said its president Ursula von der Leyen.
The two companies said their experimental vaccine was more than 90% effective, in what could be a major victory in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Protection in patients was achieved seven days after the second of two doses and 28 days after the first, according to preliminary findings on the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine.
“Tomorrow we will authorize a contract for up to 300 million doses of the vaccine developed by the German company BioNTech and Pfizer,” Ms Von der Leyen said in a statement.
“Once this vaccine is available, our plan is to implement it quickly, anywhere in Europe.
“This will be the fourth contract with a pharmaceutical company to buy vaccines. And more will come. Because we need to have a wide portfolio of vaccines based on different technologies,” the statement said.
A spokesperson for the Commission said today that the EU executive would discuss the adoption of the agreement with the two companies, adding that the decision was not linked to Pfizer’s announcement yesterday.
The World Health Organization’s special envoy on Covid-19 said yesterday’s announcement of a possible vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech was great news, but that one vaccine may not be enough to fight the virus.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dr David Nabarro said the WHO is looking at a number of vaccines that are in phase three trials and is hopeful some will be licensed next year.
Phase 3 of vaccine trials is when the drug is given to thousands of people and tested for efficacy and safety.
Once approved and licensed, a vaccine will enter the ongoing Phase 4 studies.
Dr. Nabarro urged people to continue to treat the virus with respect and adjust our lives so that it is not easily transmitted by continuing to social distance, wearing masks, and washing our hands.
Latest coronavirus stories
Dr. Nabarro said yesterday’s announcement “is an early warning of something brilliant,” but we must be prepared to wait several more weeks, or even months, before a vaccine is ready for use.
Based on supply projections, Pfizer and BioNTech said they expect to supply up to 50 million doses of vaccines globally in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
Dr. Nabarro said that one of the disadvantages of this particular vaccine is that it has to be kept quite cold, which can make it difficult to implement, particularly in hot climates.
Dr. Nabarro said that it is not yet known how long the protection of the vaccine will last in people and that answer will not be known until studies can be carried out in those who receive it.
He said he was hopeful that the information would be available for national authorities to decide whether this vaccine, or another vaccine, could be licensed for use next year, and while there may be some availability of vaccines for those who are particularly exposed , There will be no general availability until next year.
Dr. Nabarro also said that the discovery of coronavirus cases linked to mink farms is concerning but, so far, he hasn’t heard that a virus mutation is necessarily one that causes problems when it comes to a vaccine.
An infectious disease specialist has said the potential vaccine is a hopeful first step, but more information is needed.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Professor Sam McConkey said it is necessary to see if it is a vaccine that prevents against disease or prevents against infection “since you could have one that does not prevent continuous transmission, but simply prevents the people get sick with it. ”
He also said that there have been around 20 cases of people with documented recurrent Covid, where scientists have been able to sequence the genetic strain of the virus and show that the second was different from the first.
In these cases, it was sometimes milder, sometimes similar, and sometimes more severe symptoms, he said.
Advocacy Group Says Ireland Needs New Approach To Tackling Covid-19
An independent scientific advocacy group (ISAG) has advised that Ireland should take a new approach to dealing with Covid-19.
He said the current policy is to “live with the virus” and it led to a steady increase in infections from late July to mid-October, when severe restrictions were reintroduced across the island.
The group said the hope now is that Covid-19 cases will drop low enough to return to Level 3 restrictions on December 1 and the Republic will remain at Level 3 until the Level 5 lockdown is required again.
ISAG predicts that these lock-and-release cycles will repeat every three to four months, until the end of 2021 at the earliest.
Instead, it is recommending “the kill alternative” on the island of Ireland, which means ending community transmission, and experience in Australia and elsewhere indicates that the goal is achievable.
He said the goal would be to reopen and keep the economy and society open and he believes this could be done in three months.
The policy would include travel restrictions, including entry controls at ports and airports, a robust and efficient test and trace system and a cooperative approach between the Republic and Northern Ireland.
ISAG has eight members, including Professor Anthony Staines from DCU, Professor Ivan Perry from UCC, and Dr. Tomas Ryan from TCD.
[ad_2]