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A second vaccine could soon be approved in Switzerland. This will likely give a boost to the vaccination campaign.
In the fight against the coronavirus, vaccination is the most effective means. However, there is currently a lack of vaccine doses. So far, only one product has been used in Switzerland, namely that of Pfizer / Biontech. In the coming days, however, the Swissmedic licensing authority could approve a second vaccine for Switzerland.
At the moment, demand is far greater than supply, according to SRF science editor Thomas Häusler. “If the second vaccine arrives, 120,000 more people can be vaccinated in January and another 250,000 in February. All at-risk patients who are particularly at risk benefit from this. That means the effect would be very large. “
The Moderna vaccine has advantages in terms of storage
The second corona vaccine comes from Switzerland: the American company Moderna has Lonza in Visp to produce 400 million doses for the whole world.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are powered by new mRNA technology. Both manufacturers report 95 percent effectiveness. And both require a second vaccine: Pfizer after 21, Moderna after 28 days.
“The two mRNA vaccines are very comparable, they are very similar in terms of effectiveness and tolerability,” says Christoph Berger, president of the Federal Immunization Commission, who is familiar with the studies of both manufacturers. “So it doesn’t matter if a person gets one or the other vaccine.”
There is a difference in storage: instead of minus 70, Moderna vaccine is transported at minus 20 degrees. This has consequences: transportation and storage at minus 70 degrees are more complex. The Pfizer / Biontech vaccine is only supplied in packs of thousands.
“Moderna vaccine comes in packs of hundreds and can be thawed and stored in a normal refrigerator for a month,” says Häusler. “This means that this vaccine can be vaccinated in the usual practice of a family doctor.”
Vaccination is something that family doctors, primary care providers do in Switzerland.
In the Swiss vaccination race, distribution through general practitioners is a great advantage of the Moderna product. “Vaccination is something that is done in Switzerland by the GP, the primary care provider,” says Christoph Berger. And it is always better to be able to fall back on the usual supply system and not have to create new structures.
Moderna doses could boost the vaccination campaign. In the best of cases, already Monday.
