[ad_1]
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) can approve this Wednesday the entry into the European Union market of the vaccine developed by the modern pharmaceutical company. It will be the second in the European space when criticism of the lack of dose is already heard in some countries.
The EMA also convened an extraordinary meeting of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use on Monday to assess the Modern, already administered in the United States, but the experts asked for more time to analyze the clinical data. There will be another meeting on Wednesday. If the approval is confirmed, a conditional license will be granted for the use of the drug in European territory, contracting Brussels with Moderna 160 million doses. On Saturday 9, the EMA will hold a public meeting on the evaluation of other vaccines.
The first vaccine against covid-19 approved in Europe was that of Pfizer / BioNTech which in a few days began to be applied in the 27 member states from December 27. Since December 1, remember, the EMA has evaluated two other vaccines contracted by the European Union: Astrazeneca, developed by the University of Oxford and which is already being applied in the United Kingdom, and that of the pharmaceutical Janssen, a subsidiary of the American company Johnson & Johnson, which is in the last phase of clinical trials. Astrazeneca has not yet requested authorization from the EMA, but the European agency warned last week, following its approval by the United Kingdom, that it needs more information to allow it to enter the European market. There would be another 400 million doses.
In Portugal More than 30 thousand people have already been vaccinated. Yesterday the vaccination plan began in 150 homes located in the highest risk districts. Germany and Italy are the two EU countries with the most vaccinations: 265 thousand and 129 thousand people, respectively. However, in Germany it is criticized that so far only a single vaccine has been approved and in Italy there are parts of the country where the shortage of doctors and syringes is delaying the vaccination plan. In France, only 432 people have been vaccinated and President Emmanuel Macron has already promised, in his New Year’s speech, that there will be no further delays.
Of the seven contracted by Brussels, three are currently in the last phase of clinical trials, in addition to the Johnson (the only one that only provides one dose and 400 million doses have been acquired) are also in phase 3 Curevac (400 million doses ordered) and the Novavax (100 million doses purchased with the possibility of acquiring another 100 million). The most backward is that of groups Sanofi (French) and GSK (English) that it should only enter phase 3 from April, as the first results revealed little effectiveness among the elderly.
Efficiency and storage
Moderna’s vaccine proved to be 94.5% effective, it also uses the same innovative technology as the Pfizer vaccine – mRNA, which enables the production of coronavirus-specific proteins or “antigens” sent to the immune system that will then produce antibodies – but can be stored at -20ºC which facilitates storage compared to Pfizer, which should be above -60ºC.
Astrazeneca, which is another vaccine that is already being administered, is even easier to store: it can be kept for at least six months under normal refrigeration conditions, that is, with temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. In the case of the Oxford vaccine, genetic manipulation is carried out on the adenovirus, the chimpanzee flu virus, and then the gene for the protein Sars-Cov-2 “S” is added, which will activate the person to whom the vaccine is given an immune response.
All vaccines contracted by the EU, with the exception of Johnson, provide for immunization in two doses.
[ad_2]
