Covid, three vaccines arriving in Bergamo “The weapon is now the mask”

The webinar organized by Mondosanità, in collaboration with the Motor Health Observatory, AstraZeneca and IT-MeD, allowed several experts to discuss the safety, production, delivery and beneficiaries of vaccines on the days when numerous vaccination tests Phase 3 clinical trial arrived and then evaluated by the competent authorities to defeat the infection.

The three vaccines undergoing rapid approval are the one produced by Astrazeneca-Oxford (59,500 subjects enrolled in Phase 2-3) which is stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius; the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine (45,000 subjects enrolled in Phase 2-3) that exploits messenger RNA technology (kept at -80 ° C) and that produced by ModeRna (30,700 subjects enrolled in Phase 2-3), stabilized to be stored at -20 degrees centigrade for six months and between 2 and 8 degrees for 1 month. A fourth vaccine could arrive soon, that of Janssen (Johnson & Johnson). Giovanni Rezza, General Director of Health Prevention of the Ministry of Health, reiterated: “The best vaccine so far has been spacing. There are many candidate vaccines, but if we don’t persist in virtuous behavior in the meantime, the epidemic will restart. The vaccines chosen by Italy represent 13.46% of the doses purchased by the European Union and from January the first limited doses will arrive. Health workers and the elderly will be privileged. We will have to be flexible in the vaccination strategy, but we are still far from herd immunity ». A mention from the Bergamo area: «In Val Seriana in March there was a high incidence of cases that put the health system in crisis due to other diseases as well. We are always cautious. The vaccines ordered by Italy are 202.57 million doses (of which 40.38 AstraZeneca; 26.92 Pfizer / BionNTech, 10.77 ModeRna). “Until the immunity of the herd is achieved, the mask and social distancing must be maintained – remarked Antonio Cascio, director of infectious diseases at the Giaccone Polyclinic in Palermo -. Future studies will establish the duration of protection and the need for withdrawal. “While logistics, priorities and vaccine choice are being outlined, other questions await an answer – added Claudio Zanon, scientific director of the Health Engine Observatory -. Not only the duration of coverage, but also the possible obligation to vaccinate, the use of serology in those who have already had Covid and the role of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines ”. “Anti-Covid vaccines will not be the final weapon, if we do not make them available to everyone – said Stefano Vella, professor at the Catholic University of Global Health in Rome -. It is a global epidemic. Roberto Nisini, director of the Department of Immunology-Infectious Diseases of the Higher Institute of Health, clarified that “serious reactions are very rare.”