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The United Kingdom became the first Western country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, after the British regulator gave the green light to the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech and granted its emergency use in record time.
Pfizer and BioNTech, along with rival Moderna, published data showing that their vaccines are 95% effective in preventing disease, while AstraZeneca and Oxford University have advanced that, on average, their therapy was 70% effective, percentage that can be increased depending on the chosen dosage regimen. Pharmaceutical AstraZeneca has already announced that it will carry out an “additional study” to validate these results. These three vaccines are the ones that are closest to stopping, which will not be immediate, the covid-19 pandemic.
The companies guarantee that distribution can begin as soon as they see the vaccines approved. It is up to the government of each country to decide who will be inoculated and in what order and, equally important, to outline the logistics for the application of thousands of doses of vaccines in a short period of time.
Has a vaccine been approved in the EU?
Not yet, but it will come soon. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on Monday that it had received two requests for conditional marketing authorization for vaccines developed by BioNTech and Pfizer and Moderna, hoping to issue a decision “in a few weeks.”
If the data that the EMA is analyzing on vaccines is robust enough to reach a conclusion on quality, safety and efficacy, the scientific committee will complete the evaluation of Pfizer’s vaccine during a special meeting scheduled for December 29. And he will make a decision on the vaccine for Moderna until January 12.
In practice, if this authorization arrives in the next few weeks, there are citizens in Europe who can be vaccinated at the end of this year.
And what’s next?
After this green light from the European regulator, it is the turn of the European Commission to “accelerate its decision-making process with a view to granting a conditional marketing authorization valid in all EU member states and the European Economic Area in the days ”, The EMA explained in a note. From that moment on, it will be up to each country to initiate its vaccination strategy.
How many contracts has the EU already signed?
The European Commission has already signed at least six contracts with vaccine producers, but has a seventh under eye, according to the president of the community executive. Ursula vin the Read, last week. For now, there are agreements with AstraZeneca (300 million doses), the Sanofi-GSK (300 million), Johnson & Johnson (200 million), BioNTech and Pfizer (300 million), CureVac (405 million) and Moderna (80 million doses in a first phase, 160 million in a later phase).
What Vaccine will Portugal receive?
The first vaccine to reach Portuguese territory, if it is approved, should be that of Pfizer, just three days after the “yes” of the EMA, that is, the first day of January 2021. This is what he said this Wednesday. Pfizer Portugal’s medical director, Susana Castro Marques, in an interview with RTP.
The pharmaceutical representative also explained that Pfizer and BioNTech will ensure all stages of transportation and distribution of the vaccine, from the production plants to the vaccination sites designated by the Portuguese authorities. “We are going to have an air distribution component to some key points in the country or region and then a ground transportation network and then distribute from these centers to other designated locations,” he added.
However, the European Union (EU) has secured at least six different types of vaccines from different producers, which means that other vaccines may arrive in Portugal as soon as they are approved, as is the case with Moderna therapy.
Does Portugal already have a vaccination plan?
Yes, but this plan is not yet public. It will be presented this Thursday. António Costa and Marta Temido met this Wednesday night with the team that is preparing it. At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Health said that the vaccine, which should arrive in Portugal in early January, will be “optional”, “free” and integrated into the National Health Service (SNS). On Thursday, aspects of logistics, security and registration for vaccination, among others, will be known. But Temido has already warned: “The vaccination process will be long, it will not be in a single day. For several months ”of 2021, the covid-19 prevention rules must be applied.
According to the Health Minister, the vaccines are in different stages of clinical trials or evaluation by regulators, which will also influence the vaccination schedule. “We admit that in the first quarter we still have a shortage of vaccines, which justified the selection of target or priority population groups, in Portugal and in other countries. Then, in all countries, we will have scenarios of greater availability of vaccines in the market in countries that will lead to other solutions. In an extreme scenario, at the end of the year, it is possible to have a much more decentralized distribution than at the beginning, ”he said.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister had said, in an interview with Observer, that Portugal is not lagging behind in relation to other countries in the dissemination of this strategy, something that Marta Temido had already highlighted. “The fundamental thing is that the day the vaccine is available, everything is configured so that the vaccine is assigned,” he defended. And he assured that Portugal began working on this plan practically from the beginning of the pandemic and that it made the maximum order for each batch to which it was entitled.
How many doses will Portugal receive?
Portugal will buy more than 22 million doses of vaccines against covid-19, which represents a cost of 200 million euros, according to the Minister of Health said on Wednesday.
Are vaccines already manufactured?
Yes. Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, leading the race, have already started manufacturing their vaccines. Pfizer said this year it would have enough doses to inoculate 25 million people, modern enough for 20 million, and AstraZeneca for more than 100 million.
AstraZeneca says it is making progress in manufacturing the vaccine and expects to have a capacity of up to three billion doses of the vaccine in 2021 “on an ongoing basis,” pending regulatory approval. Pfizer said Wednesday that by the end of next year it hopes to have enough doses “to end the pandemic.” Moderna revealed that it was still “on the right track” to produce between 500 million and 1 billion doses in 2021.
When will other countries start getting vaccinated?
The process varies from country to country. Both Moderna and Pfizer have already applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates the pharmaceutical sector in the US, for an emergency authorization for the use of their covid-19 vaccine. In addition to the EU, Japan, Canada and Australia are running their regulatory processes for speedy approval.
The UK, which has ordered 40 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech, enough for less than a third of the population, will start vaccinating next week. Nursing home residents and their employees are at the top of the priority list, followed by people over 80 and healthcare professionals who are at the forefront in the fight against the pandemic; this list is identical in most countries. Europeans.
Delivery times vary and most are still working on plans for distribution and administration of doses, but details of each country’s strategy are already known. Italy expects to receive the first deliveries of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca early next year. Spain already has the strategy outlined, but it only moves towards vaccination in January. In Hungary, citizens should not start vaccination until spring.
Germany, one of the first countries to draw up a plan, is already preparing the places where vaccination should take place. In Berlin, a fair hall, two airport terminals, an ice rink, a concert arena and a velodrome will be transformed into large vaccination centers, operational from December, where four thousand people will be vaccinated a day.
How much will a vaccine cost?
The answer depends not only on the manufacturer, but also on the country, since both parties have negotiated prices and some are not even public. According to Reuters, governments paid “some euros” for the injection of AstraZeneca and about 40 euros for the two-dose regimen of Pfizer. Many countries, such as Portugal, have already advanced that vaccination will be free.
Will there be vaccines for the poorest countries?
Yes, at least that is the objective of COVAX, a mechanism created by the World Health Organization and other organizations that aims to ensure that, in a first stage, 3% of the population of these countries is vaccinated – the end The last is to reach 20% of the population. It is expected, but not yet certain, that less wealthy countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, such as India, will receive low-cost or no-cost vaccines under this program over the next year. Other countries, such as those in Latin America, can buy vaccines through COVAX.
