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Today we are leaving. Vaccines in Italy and in all European countries with Cominarty, the anti COVID-19 of Pfizer-BioNTech. But to get out of the swamp there is still a long road and obstacles and before March-April there will be no talk of mass vaccination. The 9,750 doses delivered yesterday to Spallanzani are enough only for a symbolic operation. The first, at the Roman Center of Excellence, to receive the injection will be Alessandra Vergori (infectious diseases doctor), Alessandra D’Abramo (infectious diseases doctor), Omar Altobelli (health social worker), Maria Rosaria Capobianchi (biologist) and Claudia Alivernini (nurse). The vaccines were distributed in all regions and therefore the V-day it will affect all of Italy. The program, in the coming weeks, plans to start with RSA health workers, guests and employees, and continue with the elderly, proceeding by age groups. Problem: Expected supplies are insufficient.
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Italy is seeking refuge and trying to buy more vials of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. However, we are confident that Pfizer will deliver another 470,000 doses in early January. Throughout the month, as Commissioner Arcuri anticipated, we will continue with this weekly rhythm. For example, Lazio will receive 40,000 doses every seven days, enough in January not even to vaccinate all health workers, taking into account that a double administration is needed. On a national scale, even in the best of scenarios, in January we will have vaccinated about 1 million people in Italy and we will be a long way from the goal of 40 for widespread immunity. It should be remembered that only 4.3 million people are over 80 years old. There is no unequal treatment within Europe: Italy is entitled to 13.2 percent of the doses and the initial 9,750 are an equal share for everyone, which counts is the next 470 thousand. In the balance, however, there are also other elements: already 2 million Italians have had contact with the virus, to which are added the many who have tested positive without knowing it.
There are cases of reinfection, but they are rare, so more than 5 percent of the population is immunized. And if in May we have already vaccinated everyone over sixty years of age, all risk categories will be protected and the impact on hospitals will decrease greatly. That said, if other vaccines are not licensed soon, the desired acceleration is unlikely to occur. For Moderna (already validated by the FDA, the US authority) the EMA will speak on January 6. Unlike Pfizer-BioNTech, this drug does not require the “super cold” chain. But in Italy in the first quarter only 1.3 million doses will arrive. Different speech for AstraZeneca which has already committed to supply 40 million vials in the first half. As is known, there has been a slowdown in authorization procedures. In the UK, however, they await clearance from the British drug agency tomorrow and this could have an impact on the similar delivery of Ema (Europe). Finally, Italy has opted for 53 million Johnson & Johgnson vaccines – it has an advantage, it is a single dose – but the times are longer, the authorization is scheduled for spring. In short: today’s mobilization cannot yet be considered the departure of a mass vaccination.
PROTECTION
Another knot: how long will the protection last? We do not know, but if it should be less than six to seven months, there is a risk: since the vaccination will be extended in 9-10 months, there is the possibility that the virus will always remain in circulation, with the testimony that it passes from the last of the unvaccinated those who receive the administration these days and who, in fact, after the summer, in theory, could no longer be protected. Professor Pier Luigi Lopalco, today a health adviser in Apulia, explains: “It will be necessary to control the duration of protection and, if necessary, to vaccinate again at the end of 2021 those whose protection will have been exhausted. But today we don’t know if it will help. For now, logistical problems are almost in the background. Carlo Palermo, national secretary of Anaao Assomed, a medical association: «What worries me is not so much the organizational machinery, but the supplies. They do not seem sufficient to quickly achieve generalized immunity. ‘ Filippo Anelli, president of the National Order of Physicians: “It will be correct to involve medical studies in the area as much as possible, but it would be important to have other more manageable vaccines available.”
Last update: 00:20
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