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What could change in the galaxy of Sars-CoV-2 vaccines after AstraZeneca stops testing? The compact scientific community: this is not a stop, in fact proof that efficacy and safety studies are critical. Disappointment is inevitable: the possibility of having the first doses by the end of the year disappears (2-3 million, announced the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza, to be initially allocated to health workers and the elderly with pathologies). Could the occurrence of an adverse event also affect the other eight vaccines that have reached stage 3? The list also includes the American company Moderna, which according to President Donald Trump’s hypothesis will hit the market in October, just before the elections.
Viral vector vaccines
The point now is to understand what is the cause of the pathology that affected a volunteer (transverse myelitis): if it were linked to the immune response induced by the vaccine, this could represent a blow to many of the research groups involved in the world . Another hypothesis is that the problem refers to the viral vector used by the Oxford team: other vaccines based on the same strategy (CanSino, Gamaleya, Janssen) and that reached the final stages could be safe, because they use different vectors (of origin animal or human).The challenge of who will cut the thrilling finish line first, even if the suspension of Astrazeneca has shown that the experiments cannot be done by putting the watch. Among the nine Phase 3 vaccines there are two RNA-based (Moderna and BioNTech / Pfizer), three containing inactivated viruses (all Chinese), and four using the viral vectors mentioned above, including the Russian one from the Gamaleya Institute.
Possible neurological effects
There is no data available in humans at the moment, only in animals. When preliminary results are obtained in a sufficient number of individuals, distribution to the first segments of the population can begin. Healthcare workers lead the way, followed by the group of the elderly with pathologies or, according to the proposal of some American scientists, by that of young adults, considered the greatest spreaders of the infection. It will take time, at this point of course, so much so that there are not a few scholars who ask to focus on other ways of containing the epidemic, in addition to the possible future vaccine. Certainly, following the announcement of AstraZeneca, all research groups will concentrate their efforts on verifying any neurological effects, even minimal, in the volunteers. In the past diseases like Guillain-Barr syndrome (a neuropathy) have been associated with antiviral vaccines, but the cause and effect link has been disproved.
Reliable safety data
However, there are diseases that can cause neurological effects, such as Zika virus infection, measles (rarely, it can cause encephalitis), and Sars-CoV-2 itself. In the case of Oxford, the problem must be clarified., but we must not lose confidence in vaccination and in the titanic effort made in recent months to come up with a shield against the coronavirus, says Marcello Tavio, president of the Italian Society for Infectious and Tropical Diseases (Simit). A few days ago, large pharmaceutical companies committed to the challenge of the Covid vaccine issued a statement in which they underscored their commitment not to seek approval from governments, until reliable data is available on the safety of their products. Sar a case?
September 10, 2020 (change September 10, 2020 | 07:37)
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