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A promising Covid-19 vaccine is part of “a way out” of the restrictions the coronavirus has imposed, New Zealand experts say.
However, keeping it at sub-zero temperatures will be one of the challenges as it is rolled out.
Early data from Pfizer and BioNTech suggest that their vaccine could be 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19.
New Zealand has signed up to receive enough doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine for 750,000 people, and the government said it could be used here starting in the first quarter of 2021, all as planned.
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The two-dose vaccine should be kept at -80 degrees Celsius, and the government has said it is investigating available cold chain storage technology.
That makes it quite different from most vaccines, which can be stored at home refrigerator temperature.
Not for distribution
“Vaccines are not normally frozen, so this is a total change,” says vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris, associate professor at the University of Auckland.
“You need a lot of -80 freezers that you can store until just before you need them,” said Associate Professor and University of Auckland vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris.
“Vaccines are not normally frozen, so this is a total change. And not just frozen but super frozen.”
“You have a few days, you don’t have to take it straight out of one of these freezers right before you use it.”
It will take a strict organization, but it is doable, he said.
Many questions remain to be answered, Petousis-Harris said, but news from Pfizer shows that an effective vaccine is possible.
“It’s kind of a way out of this.”
However, there are many people to vaccinate and Covid precautions will not disappear overnight.
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“I think there are enough people who really want their lives back,” said Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa NZ Director Professor Graham Le Gros. He is photographed in his laboratory at the Malaghan Institute.
While the temperature requirements are a hook, the vaccine is considered part of the way back to normal.
The clinical results are “really more than we could have hoped for” so early in its development, said immunologist and Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa NZ director Professor Graham Le Gros.
Once implemented, it could eventually replace border control.
When asked if incentives could be considered to entice people to get vaccinated, Le Gros said not contracting the virus was already a big incentive.
“You can travel and do things and be risk-free,” he said. “I think there are enough people who really want to get their lives back. Health workers, people who work with sick people, they need to have access to the vaccine. People who work at the borders.”
And while some people may want to test a vaccine on a million people before agreeing, that doesn’t exist for Covid and we’ll have to be a bit brave, he said.
Carrying a combination of vaccines is a good idea, because we will not know which is the best for our context for five to ten years.
Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
The Government has set aside $ 66.3 million for a COVID-19 Immunization Program, said a statement by Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods.
The government has said that the Pfizer vaccine could be used here from the first quarter of 2021, provided it successfully passes its clinical trials and is approved by Medsafe.
The vaccine has two doses given 21 days apart and it is not yet known whether boosters will be required.
The government has set aside $ 66.3 million to launch a Covid-19 immunization program as soon as a safe and effective vaccine becomes available, according to a statement from the Minister of Research, Science and Innovation, Megan Woods.
The government is considering three large groups as possible priorities.
They are people who are at risk of transmitting Covid-19, who are at risk of contracting it, and who are at risk of “increased morbidity and mortality” related to the virus.
However, that will depend on the characteristics of the vaccines available and how the supply is, according to a statement.
“Ensuring equity of outcomes is a key measure of success, including protecting Maori, Pacific peoples, and our most vulnerable population groups, such as the elderly, disabled people, health workers, essential workers and border personnel.
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Immunization will be done in stages, not everyone will be able to get the vaccine at the same time, said immunization expert Dr. Nikki Turner.
We can expect several Covid vaccines to end up being used at Aotearoa, and more announcements before the end of the month.
A task force is negotiating with other pharmaceutical companies, according to a government statement.
“It’s likely to be a phased process,” said the director of the Advisory Center on Immunization at the University of Auckland, Dr Nikki Turner. “We are not going to vaccinate the entire population of New Zealand at once.”
Those on the front lines, border and health workers, are likely to be the first priority, he said.
We are still awaiting the results of trials or other potential vaccines, and information such as how they should be stored and administered, and for whom they are most effective, Turner said.
“I think the chances are that … the first vaccines that we will take will be those that we know are effective and that we can get enough doses.”
Over time, with more information, we may be able to choose what is most appropriate for certain situations.
On the Pfizer vaccine front, Turner said it was “incredibly positive news,” the early days, but promising.
We haven’t seen the full scientific data yet and questions remain, such as whether 90 percent effectiveness is passed down to all age groups and how long the vaccine’s protection will last.
New Zealand’s drug regulator Medsafe will play a crucial role and is already watching the results of the trial as it progresses, Turner said.
“They look at what the other international licensing bodies say, but they also do their own review … New Zealand would not accept a vaccine without Medsafe having a proper scientific review of the clinical trial data.”
