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Vaccine for coronavirus. Photo: pixabay
The Ukrainian authorities appear to have decided on a vaccine against the coronavirus. This drug was invented by the American company Pfizer and the German company BioNTech.
As soon as the foreign scientists announced their studies, Vladimir Zelensky called Angela Merkel and asked for help accessing the vaccine. And today, the chief medical officer, Viktor Lyashko, said how many ampoules will be bought, how much and how they will be distributed to citizens.
And this despite the fact that “Pfizer” has not yet been registered in the United States, and the third stage of testing continues (remember, it was under this pretext that Kiev rejected the Russian vaccine).
The Ukrainian authorities do not mention the enormous difficulty with the Pfizer vaccine. It can only be stored at ultra low temperatures.
Reuters and Blomberg suggested that this would be a key obstacle to global distribution of the drug.
“Strana” recounts our officials’ attempts to obtain the covid vaccine, the details of its purchase and the problem with the low grades.
How Ukraine is looking for a vaccine Pfizer
On November 9, the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer published a lengthy article about its covid vaccine. Now it is being tested in the third phase, which involves research on a large group of people (about 40 thousand people).
The injection, tentatively called BNT162b2, will be two-phase: the second time will be given in about two weeks. On average, in a month, the vaccine should start working, to protect the body from the coronavirus. The Russian “Sputnik V” works the same way.
American and German scientists have estimated the effectiveness of their vaccine to be 90% (that is, it works in 90 people out of 100). The WHO gave a positive and conservative assessment of the drug: “The Pfizer vaccine is very promising, we also expect more and more options,” said the head of the organization. Let’s repeat: in almost the same moderate terms, the organization spoke about the Russian vaccine.
Despite the fact that the tests have not yet been completed (although they are at the finish line), no contraindications and side effects have been specified, the period of retention of antibodies (which is equal to the duration of protection of the body), Volodymyr Zelensky has already wanted to buy this vaccine for Ukraine.
The authorities appeared to have no other options. We will recall, the head of the Ministry of Health, Maxim Stepanov, somehow inadvertently said that Kiev could consider buying a Russian vaccine if its effectiveness is proven. As a result, the official was summoned “on the carpet” to the US Embassy in Ukraine. And the US diplomats ordered the Ukrainian authorities in capsule order that they would not buy the Russian drug (for more details on this scandal, see Strana’s article: “Vaccination since Independence”).
In this regard, it was clear that an American vaccine was on the way. And as soon as it appears, at any stage of preparation, the Ukrainian authorities will want to buy it for citizens.
As a result, on October 10, President Zelensky, who is ill with coronavirus, contacted Angela Merkel. Since the Germans are producing the drug together with the Americans, Ze asked the chancellor for “help in taking into account the interests of Ukraine when planning the supply of coronavirus vaccines.”
What Merkel replied is not reported. However, on November 11, Ukraine’s chief medical officer, Viktor Lyashko, spoke in relative detail about the purchase format for this vaccine.
Price of the vaccine Pfizer, how many doses will Ukraine buy
The authorities expressed their confidence that Ukraine will receive the vaccine against covid not least. The reason to believe it is the special COVAX mechanism. It was created by the WHO together with the Global Vaccine Alliance.
The program assumes equal access to drugs for all countries, regardless of the level of economic development. Ukraine, according to chief sanvarch Lyashko, has become one of 92 states participating in this mechanism.
In addition, participation in COVAX will allow Ukraine and other states to buy the vaccine at a special price. Viktor Lyashko said that the state budget for 2021 has allocated 1 billion hryvnia for the purchase of a drug that protects against covid. It is planned to buy 8 million doses.
It is not reported when the first tranche of the rescue ampoules will be shipped to Ukraine. Lyashko himself assumed this would happen in 2021, while Europe preliminarily hopes to start mass vaccinations in April.
The first problem that German specialists have already paid attention to is the lack of medical personnel to vaccinate the country’s population. In this case, we are talking about Germany, but in Ukraine the problem of doctors and nurses is no less serious.
So for immunization, two vaccines are required, but because there are a lot of medical personnel. German media write that there are already plans to bring doctors back from retirement. In addition, 60 vaccination centers are planned throughout the country. But this is unlikely to be sufficient for widespread distribution in a short time, even with sufficient vaccine availability.
“Even if the daunting task of administering 60,000 doses of vaccine per working day could be accomplished, it would take 1,000 working days (about four years) to vaccinate the population in Germany,” wrote the researchers working with Matthias Schrappe, a physician at the University of Cologne.
Also, how much the Pfizer vaccine costs has yet to be revealed. But if you make calculations based on Lyashko’s figures, then a dose will cost 125 hryvnia or $ 4.5. Or (and this is probably closer to the truth) that is exactly what Ukraine is willing to pay.
At the same time, according to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, a dose of the vaccine will cost between 19 and 20 dollars. That is, more than four times more expensive than what Lyashko plans to buy.
First of all, the vaccine in Ukraine will receive, according to the health doctor, professional risk groups: doctors, security forces, teachers. Then the risk groups will be vaccinated, where there is a higher mortality rate: the elderly and with chronic diseases.
Let us dwell on the last point in more detail. For comparison, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is not intended to be injected into the elderly and people with severe chronic diseases in the near future. The fact is that for these two risk groups a special study is necessary. After all, not even a proven flu vaccine is recommended for injecting people with, for example, acute heart failure.
It is not reported how carefully American and German scientists have worked at this time. But for now, there is another more pressing problem.
Even if all the cards are folded, the Pfizer vaccine will be 100% tested and good, Ukraine will have access to it, there will be enough money for it, the delivery and storage formats in our country are unclear. Because they are special.
Pfizer vaccine is stored at -70 ℃
Shortly after the drug was introduced, Pfizer Reuters and Bloomberg reported on its key issue: delivery methods to other countries and storage difficulties.
This vaccine should only be kept below -70 degrees Celsius. These ultra-low grades can be provided by dry ice. At normal pressure, it guarantees an average of -78.5 ° C.
“The cold chain will be one of the most challenging aspects of vaccination. It will be a challenge in any setting. Hospitals, even in large cities, do not have vaccine storage facilities at such ultra-low temperatures,” said Amesh Adal, researcher. Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Note that the necessary storage facilities, according to the American expert, are absent even in American cities. Whether they exist in the cities of Ukraine, suppose even more not.
At the same time, at -70 degrees Celsius, the vaccine, first of all, will have to be delivered from somewhere. Second, you won’t be able to inject people right away either. After all, the vaccine is two-phase: the interval between injections is two weeks. And during all this time, the required temperature for the blisters must be maintained.
But that is not all. Dry ice, in which the vaccine can be stored, is quite dangerous. Readers will remember the sensational story of how three people died at blogger Ekaterina Didenko’s dry ice party in March. These people were not aware of the safety precautions and therefore died from the substance.
Therefore, in order for Ukrainian doctors not to accidentally get dangerous chemical burns, they should probably be given special instructions. If Ukraine, as Lyashko says, buys 8 million doses, then there should be a lot of facilities in regions with dry ice.
In this regard, the question may arise at what temperature is stored the Russian vaccine against covid Sputnik V.
Russian injections of the solution in ampoules should be kept frozen at -20 degrees. And the dry powder is a lyophilisate, which is added to the liquid before injection, at -4 degrees.
This means that “Sputnik V” can be delivered and stored in freezers, which can be purchased at a hardware store (the temperature in our home freezers is down to -24 ° C, – Ed.)
For example, for Israel, the vaccine storage factor has already been highlighted. This was announced by the Israeli journalist Solomon Mann.
“Israel will buy this [американскую] vaccine, but it is still based on the lack of the necessary conditions for its storage in Israel, “Mann wrote. In addition, the Israelis are developing and testing their covid drug.
Meanwhile, the journalist noted, the Adasa Ein Kerem hospital, which is considered the leading base for coronavirus research in Israel, announced that it was buying 1.5 million units of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine from the Institute. Gamalei.
