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After the US pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, and its partner, the German biotechnology company BioNTech, announced in a statement Monday that its experimental vaccine to prevent Covid-19 disease is more than 90% effective, a representative The Russian Ministry of Health said that the Russian vaccine “Sputnik V” against Covid-19 is more than 90% effective, so which of the two vaccines will prevail and have priority to rid humanity of the emerging corona virus?
“We are responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the vaccine (Sputnik V) among citizens who received doses of it as part of the group vaccination program,” said Oksana Drapkina, director of a research institute affiliated with the Russian Ministry of Health, in a statement.
“Its effectiveness is more than 90% according to our observations, and as for the emergence of another effective vaccine … this is good news for everyone,” he added.
In this report, we will review the details of the two vaccines: the American, the German and the Russian, as well as concerns and questions about them:
The German-American Corona Virus Vaccine
What is the name of the vaccine?
The name of the vaccine is “BNT162b2” (BNT162b2).
How are you?
The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its partner, the German biotechnology company Biontech. The third and final phase of clinical trials of the new vaccine began in late July, with 43,538 people participating so far, and the two companies intend to provide data on the full trials of the third phase so that scientists review them.
How does it work?
The PNT162B2 vaccine is based on mRNA, which is a new approach to protect against virus infection.
Unlike conventional vaccines, which train the body to recognize and kill proteins that produce pathogenic factors, “mRNA” tricks the patient’s immune system into making viral proteins on its own, and these proteins are harmless; But it is enough to provide a strong immune response.
It is safe?
The two companies said they had not yet encountered serious safety concerns, and this month they were hoping to get permission from the United States to use the vaccine in emergency situations.
According to a statement from Pfizer, no serious safety issues were noted.
The statement added that the study indicates that the effectiveness rate of the vaccine is higher than 90%, 7 days after the second dose, and this means that protection is achieved 28 days from the start of vaccination, which consists of of a two-dose schedule.
The company added that “based on current expectations, we expect to produce up to 50 million doses of vaccines worldwide in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.”
How long does the vaccine protect?
Ugur Shaheen, CEO of Biontech, told Reuters that he is optimistic that the vaccination effect of the vaccine will last for a year, although this is not yet confirmed.
Pfizer and Biontech said that initial results from the third phase of clinical trials showed protection for patients 7 days after the second dose of the vaccine and 28 days after the first dose.
Strong data
“The efficacy data is really impressive,” said William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee. “It’s better than most of us expected … the study is not complete yet, but the data looks very strong nonetheless.”
Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford, said that Pfizer’s announcement “marks a turning point” in the pandemic.
What are the concerns?
Some scientists welcomed the BNT162B2 vaccine with caution and Michael Head, a public health researcher at the University of Southampton in England, said: “It is an excellent result of a first generation vaccine.”
But some others expected major logistical problems to deliver the vaccine to everyone, especially since it would have to be kept very cold and would need two doses to maintain immunity.
For his part, Ian Hamilton, assistant professor of addiction at York University, wrote in The Independent about the Pfizer vaccine and some questions and difficulties. For example, the vaccine must be given in two doses, so 30 million doses will be enough for 15 million people.
In addition, there will be difficult decisions about who will have priority and who will be excluded. Although it may seem clear that some groups are prioritized, such as frontline NHS staff and people at risk; However, there are no guarantees at this stage.
He adds that Pfizer says the data from the third phase of the trial shows the vaccine is 90% effective, although this is impressive; However, it still means that 1 in 10 will not be protected, and the problem is that we don’t know if Pfizer can predict who will not respond to the drug.
The practical logistics of supplying and distributing this vaccine also seems difficult as you might imagine, as the drug has to be stored at a temperature of minus 80 degrees Celsius, and this will also pose a challenge for manufacturing this vaccine on a large scale.
Hamilton also said that this vaccine is given in two doses 3 weeks apart, and adherence to this will also be difficult, as people forget follow-up appointments or misinterpret the need for a second dose.
Hamilton also cautioned: “We don’t know how long this vaccine provides immunity.” The study was based on the formation of immunity in 28 days, and it is clear that if immunity is limited to that period of time, the vaccine will have limited benefit.
Russian coronavirus vaccine
What is the name of the vaccine?
The name of the vaccine is Sputnik (Sputnik V).
How are you?
The vaccine was developed by the Gamalia National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia, and the center was established as a private laboratory in 1891, and in 1949 it is named after Nikolai Gamalia, the pioneer of Russian microbiology research.
The vaccine obtained a registration certificate from the Russian Ministry of Health on August 11, and it can be used to vaccinate the population in Russia according to the rules approved during the pandemic period, and it is planned to increase the production of the vaccine in Russia and all over the world.
How does it work?
Sputnik V is the world’s first registered vaccine based on a well-studied human adenovirus platform that works with adenovirus vectors.
“Vectors” are pregnant women who can carry the genetic material of another virus into the cell, and the genetic material of the adenovirus causing the infection is removed, while a gene that carries a code for a protein from another virus enters the cell. current status of the Coronavirus, and this new element is safe for the body; But it helps the immune system respond and produce the antibodies that protect the body from infection.
The technological platform of vectors based on adenovirus, facilitates and accelerates the creation of new vaccines by modifying the original carrier-carrier with genetic material of the new viruses that appear, which allows obtaining new vaccines in short periods of time, and these Vaccines elicit a strong response from the human immune system.
Human adenoviruses are among the easiest and simplest to modify, and thus their spread as vectors has expanded, according to the Sputnik Vaccine website.
It is safe?
According to the official website of the vaccine, before the start of clinical trials, the vaccine completely passed all preclinical stages, in terms of efficacy and safety, and this included experiments on various types of laboratory animals, including two primates.
The first and second phases of the clinical trials concluded on August 1, 2020, and all volunteers passed the tests well and no unexpected, dangerous or unwanted phenomena were recorded.
Post-registration studies for the Sputnik vaccine began with the participation of more than 40,000 people in Russia and Belarus on August 25, 2020. Several countries will also join the studies.
How long does a vaccine protect?
According to previous statements by the Russian Ministry of Health, double vaccination “will allow the formation of a prolonged immunity that can last” two years. “
What are the concerns?
According to a report published in the medical journal “The Lancet,” the design of the first human trial of the Sputnik vaccine has drawn criticism. The report cited Shanna Cruikshank, an immunologist at the University of Manchester in the UK, that the results of the study on the “Sputnik V” vaccine overestimated effects of the treatment.
On the other hand, and despite his lack of knowledge about the quality control or quality assurance details of Sputnik, vaccinologist Peter Hotz of Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, USA, sees notable advantages in the Russian vaccine. Since Sputnik’s freeze-dried formula is very similar to the smallpox vaccine that was developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s, this allows the vaccine to be transported to remote locations.
The tolerability of the vaccine is also comparable to that of other adenovirus vaccines, although the total levels of antibodies equivalent to the virus are not high even with the two doses; However, they are similar to some other “adenovirus vectored vaccines”.
In conclusion, the next few days will reveal to us who will lead the defeat of the emerging corona virus and rid humanity of this terrible epidemic.
Source : Independent + Al-Jazeera + France + Reuters + agencies
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