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The British will be the first to receive the vaccine. Before the new year, the EU countries and the United States can also catch up.
Vaccines against the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, will begin next week in the UK. The first to be vaccinated against the virus will be the elderly and the wards of closed institutions.
The British authorities did not approve the Oxford vaccine, which at the beginning of the pharmaceutical career was the leader, but the joint development of the American-German one. However, the WHO says the vaccine will not stop the pandemic. Correspondent.net says the details.
Herd immunity is a long way off
The UK became the first country in the world to approve a vaccine against the widespread use of the coronavirus. Vaccinations will start next week.
Britain is the European country with the highest proportion of people (85 percent) who say they are ready to get vaccinated, according to a September study by the World Economic Forum and the Ipsos Institute for Social Research on a sample of 20,000 adults in 27 countries.
The drug, which will initially be administered to British elderly people and closed institutions, was developed by the US corporation Pfizer and the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech.
The drug was named BNT162b. In November, its creators announced that the vaccine was 95 percent effective. This figure was confirmed by the profile of the British regulator MHRA.
As noted in a statement from the UK Health Ministry, MHRA experts, after extensive analysis, concluded that the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine meets “strict standards of safety, quality and efficacy”.
In late November, BioNTech and Pfizer also applied to register the coronavirus vaccine with the relevant regulators in the European Union and the United States. If approved, vaccination can begin before the end of 2020. Earlier, the media learned that the drug had already started to be delivered to European and American warehouses.
BNT162b became the record holder among vaccines, going from concept to widespread use in just ten months, not ten years, as is often the case in pharmacology.
“I am absolutely sure that with this development of events in the spring, from Easter onwards, life will start to improve and next summer we will all be able to enjoy it,” British Health Minister Matt Hancock told the BBC.
Sir Simon Stevens, director of the UK’s National Health System, says his colleagues are preparing for the largest vaccination campaign in the country’s history.
About fifty British hospitals have already prepared for the start of such a laborious process. The conversion of facilities such as conference rooms and business centers into temporary vaccination sites is also being completed.
Since the coronavirus is a respiratory infection, that is, it is transmitted by droplets in the air, it is especially important to comply with existing quarantine measures.
At the same time, experts emphasize that the appearance of a vaccine against COVID-19 should not inspire the population with the illusion that the danger has completely passed.
The World Health Organization noted that even mass vaccination will not lead to the complete eradication of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
“Vaccines will have a major impact, but I don’t think anyone can promise to eradicate the virus until we understand it much better,” said the organization’s aid coordinator Mike Ryan.
WHO’s leading vaccination expert Catherine O’Brien says the number of people vaccinated alone is not a deal breaker, citing last year’s large measles outbreaks in some countries.
He noted that there are still many open questions about the effectiveness of the vaccine. It’s about how well vaccines mitigate the severity of a possible infection and how well they can prevent transmission of the virus.
The expert emphasized that in the case of SARS-CoV-2, as the scientists suggest, for the emergence of herd immunity, it is necessary that between 60 and 70 percent of the population receive the vaccine.
In addition, that percentage will not stop the pandemic, but will slow the spread of the virus.
“Technological and pharmaceutical advances open new horizons for us. While vaccines will not completely stop COVID-19 or answer all of our questions, they offer great hope in the war against this virus,” said Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
In addition, for effective immunity to the coronavirus to emerge, it is necessary to be vaccinated twice.
Meanwhile, the American biotech company Moderna, which has also applied for registration of its mRNA-1273 vaccine in the US and the European Union, says its drug has been shown to be 94 percent effective and 100 percent effective. in severe cases.
“We hope to have an important role to play in turning the tide during this pandemic,” added Medical Director Tal Zachs. “We think we have a highly effective vaccine. Now we have the data to back that up”, – said the doctor.
However, experts say Moderna’s statement is a gimmick, as most vaccines have that almost 100 percent guarantee that there will be no serious forms of the disease, but they don’t guarantee 100 percent protection. against disease.
The creators of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine claim that after the first injection the drug shows a result of 91.5 percent, after the second vaccine it is above 95 percent.
The most modest figures for the British-Swedish AstraZeneca vaccine: Only 70 percent want this drug, which was developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford, was initially seen as the hope of the whole world.
Efficacy indicators for coronavirus vaccines
According to the WHO, Ukraine will be able to receive the first batch of coronavirus vaccine in the second quarter of 2021. It is not yet known whose vaccine production will be chosen by the Ministry of Health; Negotiations are ongoing with all companies.
Health Minister Maxim Stepanov said that after December 7 the dates of the first deliveries of the coronavirus vaccine to Ukraine will be known.
But he cautioned that the antibodies disappear after about six months and there is a threat of reinfection, which means you’ll have to get vaccinated to protect yourself.
Ukrainians are not ready to get vaccinated yet: 40 percent of respondents refuse even a free procedure, 57 percent a paid one. Only 55 percent are ready to undergo vaccination, according to a survey by Sociological Group Rating.
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