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WHO chief investigator Soumya Swaminathan tells The Guardian that she does not believe in any rapid mass vaccination and once a vaccine is available, it will be administered to a smaller number of groups:
– Most agree that the first to receive it are people in health, those who are on the front line, but even in that group you have to choose who is exposed to greater risks, and thus the elderly and medical risk groups, said Soumya Swaminathan to the newspaper.
– I think that an ordinary person, a healthy young person may have to wait until 2022 to get vaccinated.
Sweden’s National Vaccine Coordinator Richard Bergström also agrees that before everyone in the world has received a vaccine, it is 2022:
– I would say early 2022, but it completely depends on how things go in the studies that are now underway, says Richard Bergström.
Do you see that Sweden can end in early 2022?
– First we must see that the vaccine works in all population groups. And there it is especially the elderly who are always very insecure. That is why I refrain from giving a calendar.
Sweden is part of the vaccine agreements the EU has concluded and has so far been guaranteed between 10 and 16 million doses when available. Of these, 6 to 8 million doses will be administered through Astra Zeneca and 4 to 8 million doses through Janssen, part of Johnson & Johnson. In addition, Sweden has the option of purchasing a vaccine from Sanofi / GSK.
In addition to the vaccines already negotiated by the EU, but not ready for use, three vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Curevac are almost ready, while another three are in initial negotiations.
While Astra Zenecas The vaccine requires two doses per person. Janssens only requires one dose if the vaccine keeps its promise.
The idea is that all EU countries will have the same conditions once the vaccine begins to be delivered. This is so as not to end up in the same discussions that affected Europe during the pandemic itself:
– It is important that everyone has access to the same portfolio. We don’t want a new mask problem where some are out there or a protective gear problem where not everyone has access to such or closed borders, says Richard Bergström.
How quickly are those who want to be able to be vaccinated in Sweden?
– If the first vaccine works incredibly well, and for everyone who decides to take it, we should expect that vaccine deliveries will be extended next year. You should not do your vacation planning after there is a vaccination.
How do you think it will look in a year?
– At the end of next year, if everything went well, then maybe everyone who wants to have done it. But then everything should have gone well in all groups. But there is much we do not know, including how long the vaccine works and what protective effect it provides.
Sweden not only supplies vaccines to its own country, but also administers vaccine supplies to Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Sweden buys from the companies and then the vaccine is delivered to the four countries. This is because the fund used to buy the vaccines is only for EU member states.
– Administratively, we are the ones who take care of the vaccine needs of these countries, says Richard Bergström.
Except Sweden is the center In the supply of vaccines to the four countries, Sweden and the EU countries are consciously investing heavily in vaccines.
– The EU has paid several billions so that manufacturers can build factories with a greater capacity than the EU needs, this to show solidarity with the whole world, says Richard Bergström.
– Right now we have started to work with these over-investments to be able to sell to countries that have not had access to vaccines or to donate to some 90 developing countries that cannot afford to buy themselves. All of this must be planned long before there is a full vaccination.
– Then we can send the surplus to organizations such as Unicef or MSF, for example, or directly to countries. We have started to analyze how this should be done.
What role does Sweden have in this?
– We work hard on it. We will see what operational role Sweden will play in this global dimension. It is quite a large device.
Richard Bergström is clear that the entire world will receive the vaccines that are now being developed:
– The companies that made them have taken care of that. They do not agree that a few buy most things. For example, there is no risk that the United States will buy so much that Europe will be affected. Until now, the United States has not reserved a vaccine to be sufficient for its entire population.
Two of the major vaccine trials at this time have been discontinued. The Johnson & Johnson trial, which includes 60,000 people, was put on hold earlier this week after one of the study participants suffered from what the pharmaceutical giant describes as “an unexplained illness.”
September 8th The Swedish-British test by Astra Zeneca and the University of Oxford stopped after a person in the UK fell ill. The test has since resumed in Europe and other countries included in the study, but not in the United States, where it is still on hiatus.
At the same time, so-called phase 3 trials continue at other pharmaceutical companies.
– There are statistics that 20 percent of all clinical trials are stopped and then the tested drug is applied. These are new vaccines now, so I’m not surprised some stick around for a while, says Richard Bergström.
Even though more than 100 vaccines are currently being developed around the world, Richard Bergström says there are only 12 to 15 vaccines that may become relevant in the next 12 to 18 months.
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