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Are the vaccines announced by multiple pharmaceutical companies really the beginning of the end of the epidemic? The answer depends on two huge yeses. The first one the virologist referred to Andrea Crisanti in one of his misrepresented and misrepresented interventions (clarified later in the letter to Corriere): the vaccine will be the beginning of the end of the epidemic only if the announcements of the producers are confirmed once all the data of the experiment is made public. It must be clearly stated that for at the moment there is no reason to worry: the public exchange of data, to be analyzed by the scientific community, is the condition for authorizing the use of vaccines. Meanwhile, on the other hand, there are at least 11 candidates who have reached the last phase of experimentation, III, and have developed from different countries: China, the United States, Europe, Russia and India. It is very likely that we have several types of effective vaccines.
the other “yes” instead the one that should worry us a lot now: Vaccines will usher in the end of the epidemic if and only if administered rapidly to large numbers of people. This is where a game is played in which Italy runs the risk of being caught off guard. It would be a mistake of no return for our country.
As the German weekly Spiegel summarizes, Covid-19 vaccination indeed a logistical challenge, a project of a dimension that humanity has never had to face before. And whoever is the first to distribute a vaccine will be the first to end lockouts, open schools and restaurants, and boost the economy; Whoever controls access to the best vaccines will also gain power on the world stage (which is one of the reasons China plans to distribute its, still pending approval, in South America and Africa).
The problems to face are many, from the containers in which to store the preparations. Extremely low temperatures pose particular challenges for specialty medical glass vials, many billions of which are needed around the world. Manufacturers are not only working to make them in much larger quantities, but also to make them more resistant to breakage, Spiegel explains. C ‘is also the question of like those travel vials. To prevent theft of required material, pharmaceutical companies are considering equipping their shipments with GPS trackers or sending empty trucks to mislead the public, making it difficult to plan attacks. It’s also unclear how to organize the 15,000 flights needed, according to logistics company DHL, for global distribution. Not to mention the vaccination stations and medical personnel, who must be sufficiently trained to administer the injections. This last part will touch on the individual states.
So what should Italy do to prepare? To understand it, go and see what it is doing there. Germany, the European country that best manages the coronavirus epidemic. While in Italy we were still waiting for the last deliveries of the wheelchair benches (in empty classrooms, since in the meantime most students are forced into distance education), in Germany they were already working on the design mass vaccination centers, in order to have them ready by mid-December.
The federal government purchases the vaccine and arranges for delivery. Federal Lnder purchase plasters, syringes, cannulas, and disinfectants and, together with local authorities, they must quickly find suitable properties. Hundreds of centers will be established throughout Germany in the coming weeks. Bavaria wants to create at least one center in each of the 71 districts and 25 independent cities. In Rhineland-Palatinate there will be 36, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 12, in Thuringia 30, in Lower Saxony around 60, Spiegel writes in another article. The Federal Ministry of Health described how vaccination should be administered in a 24-page recommendation for Lnder and municipalities. People must be transported through a “one-way” system: registration, briefing, vaccination, observation, departure. In between, there is always a “wait”. The vaccination process must last about 15 minutes. We need waiting rooms that can accommodate at least 50 people sitting at the same time, at a safe distance, and another observation room where people remain under observation for a short period of time after vaccination. It is planned to use empty shopping malls and sports halls, in Berlin even disused airport terminals.
In the capital, specifically, six modular centers will be built for vaccinations that can be carried out 20 thousand injections per day. If this were the city’s actual daily capacity, it would mean that vaccinating Berlin’s 3,669,098 inhabitants with a single dose would take 183 days of work at full capacity.
But there are a number of issues where even highly efficient Germany struggles. Conservation and delivery The vaccine is still a problem, especially if it needs to be cooled to minus 70 degrees Celsius. The Lnder have registered 27 distribution centers with the federal government that will receive the vaccine. In fact, 60 were expected. The Federal Armed Forces warned that while they might take over the warehouse, they couldn’t guarantee such extreme cooling, Spiegel writes. Furthermore, in many places it is not clear where it will come from. medical staff. Several Lnder have announced that coordination is still ongoing. Also because health personnel are already fully employed in managing the epidemic. Gerd Landsberg, executive director of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, wants to instruct retired doctors and medical students to administer the vaccine. Meanwhile, we are getting organized.
And Italy, government and regions, what are you doing to prepare for the vaccine? January is just over a month away, Christmas is in the middle. The only thing that seems to interest us now.
This article was originally published in the press review of the Digital Edition of the Corriere della Sera. You can subscribe here.
November 24, 2020 (change November 24, 2020 | 07:24)
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