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The American pharmaceutical group “Pfizer”, and its German partner, “Biontech”, announced that their vaccine against the emerging corona virus reduces by 90 percent the risk of infection by the virus, and has demonstrated its effectiveness in the fight against epidemic, which has raised great hopes around the world. These are still preliminary results, as large-scale trials are still underway.
It can be released in mid-December.
Britain, which is one of the worst affected countries, with more than 49,000 deaths and 1.2 million infected, has recommended 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine that can be licensed for use within three weeks, according to Professor John Bell, who said: “I think so. We will be ready in mid-December to begin vaccination.”
Priority for the most vulnerable
For his part, British Health Minister Matt Hancock called on the public health system to be ready to start vaccination early next month if the vaccine is ready. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, especially in nursing homes and medical personnel. A vaccination campaign will be launched with priority for the elderly, then the young. And early experiments indicate that everyone needs two doses of the vaccine.
Pfizer hopes to take the final steps before obtaining approval from US authorities to launch the vaccine this month, and expects to deliver 50 million doses in 2020 and 1.3 billion doses next year.
Preliminary results and potential problems
The results obtained by “Pfizer” and “Biontec” remain preliminary, temporary and subject to change, since it is not possible to determine whether the vaccine has the ability to prevent an individual from transmitting or contracting the infection, or is limited to preventing the appearance and development of symptoms.
The two companies also did not disclose the duration of immunity or the effectiveness of the vaccine based on age, gender and physical health.
While Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford, saw Pfizer’s announcement as a “tipping point” in the pandemic, others expected significant logistical problems in delivering the vaccine to everyone, especially as it must be maintained. very early and requires two doses to support immunity.
Welcome and hopes
For his part, the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the announcement was “encouraging.”
Americans, who previously recommended 100 million doses, confirm that vaccination can begin before the end of the year, as do Europeans who recommended 200 million doses and are negotiating to get another 100,000 doses in early 2021.
Outgoing US President Donald Trump welcomed this announcement in a tweet, saying it was “wonderful news.”
The president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, confirmed that he saw a hint of “hope” in the announcement of the companies “Pfizer” and “Biontech”, warning that the “battle” is still long.
How does the vaccine work?
And unlike traditional vaccines, which train the body to recognize and kill the proteins that make pathogenic factors, mRNA tricks the patient’s immune system into making viral proteins on its own. Proteins are harmless but sufficient to provide a strong immune response.
The study will evaluate the ability of this vaccine to protect against Covid-19 in patients who have been previously infected with the virus, as well as to very strongly prevent Covid-19 infection.
And the World Health Organization announced, in mid-October, the existence of 42 clinical trials of vaccines, while it was 11 in mid-June. Ten of them have become the third phase, in which the efficacy of the vaccine is tested on a large scale, with the participation of tens of thousands of people on several continents.
