[ad_1]
Following warnings and warnings of the consequences of the acceleration among major countries in the use of vaccines that do not meet the efficacy and safety requirements for experimental purposes or in emergency situations, the World Health Organization has intensified its criticism of the political and economic pressures to which scientific bodies are exposed to agree to distribute vaccines before passing all stages of testing.
In an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, epidemiologist Anna Maria Heenao, who has overseen the organization’s vaccination research department for years, said: “What we fear is that political and economic pressures to accelerate the use of vaccines not prepared against (Covid-19) will lead to low circulation of the vaccine. Effectiveness, that is, the rate at which it contains the virus does not exceed 10% and 20%. She added: “We know that full effectiveness is a mirage in vaccine science, but it is possible that some of the early vaccines against the emerging virus (Corona) are worse than the absence of the vaccine.”
These statements were made by the international expert a few hours after the White House announced that the United States will independently continue the research it is conducting to develop a vaccine against (Covid-19) under the pretext of “not being subject to the restrictions multilateral parties such as the World Health Organization ”, and that it will not cooperate with the international initiative. Circulate access to the COVAX vaccine, which is coordinated by the organization that Washington accuses of serving Chinese interests.
And although the experts of the international body admit that they have not yet been able to determine the level of effectiveness necessary for vaccines to stop the spread of (Covid-19), Hinau says: “We prefer that the vaccine be in a single dose and its effectiveness is not less than 70 percent, but based on the criteria that were established in last April, the first phase could be satisfied with a two-dose vaccine with 50 percent effectiveness to face this epidemic that generates 40,000 victims every week around the world.
It should be noted that research conducted at several universities under the supervision of the World Health Organization has shown that addressing new pandemics without resorting to other preventive measures requires a vaccine whose effectiveness is not less than 60 percent if it is distributed to the entire population. and at 70 percent if it is distributed among three His rooms and by 80 percent if it is distributed among half of them.
And on the reasons that can exacerbate the pandemic if the rush to use vaccines that are not scientifically prepared, Hinau says: “The danger arises from the erroneous assumption that the vaccine will lead to a significant decrease in the rate of spread of the epidemic, and the belief of those who take it that they have sufficient immunity, which leads them to renounce preventive measures “.
To ensure the effectiveness of the vaccines that are being developed, the WHO team of experts proposes a simultaneous study of several experimental vaccines and the comparison between them over a period of six months that they believe is sufficient to identify an effective vaccine capable of reducing the risk of spread by 50 percent.
The World Health Organization has called on all international laboratories and affected countries to develop a vaccine against (Covid-19) to join the program it developed months ago to coordinate vaccination efforts and compare their results, highlighting that international cooperation in this field it is the only way to eliminate the epidemic in various parts of the country. the world.
It should be noted that the main international companies and laboratories, such as the University of Oxford, the American companies Moderna, Innovio, Arcturus, Johnson, the German Curivac and the Chinese Cansino, had signed a commitment to cooperation and exchange of information last April. and provisional results in this field, and the experiments carried out by all these organisms reached the stage of the last tests in humans. Without any cooperation or coordination between them.
Researchers at some of the most advanced laboratories for vaccine development, such as the University of Oxford and Moderna Company, have repeatedly warned that despite the promising results thus far, it will not be possible to determine the level of effectiveness and safety of the vaccine. vaccine months before its trial, and also expressed fear that the possible gradual decline in the epidemic will lead to efforts to determine its efficacy have failed. The Health Organization says the program it proposed to coordinate vaccine development efforts among all parties under the banner of “solidarity” would prevent this failure by providing hundreds of sites to test vaccines. “Such international coordination of vaccine trials under the supervision of a single scientific team would guarantee rapid and reliable results to develop vaccines with a high degree of efficacy and safety,” he added.
“The cost of this program to coordinate ongoing efforts to develop the vaccine is not comparable to the social and economic cost of (Covid-19), and that cooperation is the way,” said Oxford University epidemiologist Richard Peto, who is a member of the WHO expert team that oversees the “Solidarity” program. The only one that stops the feverish national race between countries to develop the vaccine without respecting the basic scientific standards and conditions in this field.
It should be noted that the vaccine that is being developed at the University of Oxford in Great Britain, and which is the most advanced so far according to the World Health Organization, will not be ready before mid-December (next) if there are no obstacles But the European Medicines Agency awaits its share. “No vaccine will be ready for approval before the beginning of next year.”
In their race for the vaccine, rich countries had been quick to reserve large quantities of vaccine doses before the end of clinical trials and to know the degree of efficacy and safety. The European Union also signed large contracts to buy 300 million doses of the Oxford vaccine and another 300 million from the French company “Sanofi”, in addition to 200 million doses from Johnson and Johnson and 80 million from Moderna. It is estimated that the number of doses of vaccines that rich countries have contracted to buy exceeds 3,000 million, but so far there are no guarantees that any of them will be effective.
WHO experts recall that two years ago, that is, before the appearance of (Covid 19), the influenza virus caused the death of more than half a million people in Europe alone, and that the effectiveness of the vaccine at that time it did not exceed 25 percent. Specialists assure that despite the apparent discrepancy so far between (Covid 19) and the influenza virus, whose characteristics are constantly changing, there is still insufficient information about the Corona virus and its effect on the protein it uses to enter cells and spread in the body.
According to a recent study conducted at the University of St. Louis in the United States, one of the reasons that prevents more people from getting vaccinated against (Covid-19) is previous exposure to another virus such as influenza, which pushes the immune system to act against previous infections rather than against new viral strains. .
[ad_2]
