COVID-19 vaccine development pipeline gears up

[Redpossum]

13 Israelis suffer FACIAL PARALYSIS after taking Pfizer Covid jab, but NO LINK to vaccination found (UPDATED)

At least 13 Israelis have experienced facial paralysis after being administered the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, a month after the US Food and Drug Administration reported similar issues but said they weren’t linked to the jab.

www.rt.com

Let me stress that this paralysis was apparently temporary.

 

[gracielle]

UPDATE: 14 January 2021

Microsoft, Cigna form coalition for digital records of COVID-19 vaccination

Microsoft Corp, health insurer Cigna Corp and Mayo Clinic are part of a coalition pushing for digital records of people who get vaccinated against COVID-19.

www.reuters.com

UPDATE:

Do we need 'vaccine passports' to get Europe moving again?

The rollout of a viable coronavirus vaccine is bringing hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight. It will likely be months before normality returns. Could "vaccine passports" be the way forward to kickstart international travel and the global economy? #UncoveringEurope

www.euronews.com

Coronavirus: WHO against vaccine passports 'for the time being'

The agency's emergency committee said there were still "too many fundamental unknowns" about the effectiveness of vaccines.

www.euronews.com

International travellers could soon require COVID-19 vaccination

International travellers could soon be required to have a COVID-19 vaccine before flying, according to the Qantas chief executive.

www.euronews.com

American tells pilots to take vaccine on own time but plans airport-based rollout

American Airlines has told pilots they should take a COVID-19 vaccine on their own time while preparing a broader voluntary program for employee vaccinations at airports around the country.

www.reuters.com

 

[gracielle]

EU states ramp up vaccinations amid Pfizer delivery delay

UK announces it has administered 4.6m vaccination doses. Meanwhile, Pfizer says that fewer doses will be available for European countries at the end of January and the beginning of February."

www.euronews.com

Pfizer delays January vaccine delivery to Bahrain - health ministry

Bahrain offers its citizens free of charge either the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or one manufactured by Chinese state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm

www.zawya.com

 

[gracielle]

China steals march on West in developing nations' vaccine rollout

China is stealing a march on Western drugmakers in the COVID-19 vaccine race in developing nations, with Indonesia and Turkey rolling out huge campaigns with a Chinese shot this week, Brazil due to follow soon, and even EU member Hungary signing up.

www.reuters.com

Reuters | Breaking International News & Views

Find latest news from every corner of the globe at Reuters.com, your online source for breaking international news coverage.

www.reuters.com

 

[gracielle]

Efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines in older people | Oxford Academic

academic.oup.com

 

[gracielle]

Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine: What You Need to Know

Learn how the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine works, how safe and effective it is, and who can get it when.

www.verywellhealth.com

Data show COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson spurs immune response - UPI.com

A one-shot COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is safe and generates an immune response to block the novel coronavirus that causes the disease, according to results of an early-stage clinical trial.

www.upi.com

 

[gracielle]

Coronavirus: los expertos advierten que la variante de Reino Unido es más contagiosa, pero no agrava los casos

Coronavirus: los expertos advierten que la variante de Reino Unido es más contagiosa, pero no agrava los casos

www.lanacion.com.ar

Coronavirus: Experts warn UK variant is more contagious, but does not exacerbate cases
17 January 2021
This morning, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Nation, Roberto Salvarezza, reported on Twitter that for the first time a traveler from abroad was detected the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, VOC202012 / 01 or 501Y .V1 known as the the one from the United Kingdom. The traveler arrived in Ezeiza at the end of last December, coming from Frankfurt.

"He is a man who lives in the United Kingdom, had traveled to some cities in Europe and occasionally came to Buenos Aires on a business trip," explains Angela Gentile, head of the Department of Epidemiology at the Ricardo Gutiérrez Children's Hospital. "He is not a tourist. He had no symptoms and was detected by the surveillance system that performs a diagnostic PCR on everyone who arrives in the country. His contacts are being analyzed and the epidemiological investigation is being carried out, which has not yet been completed. It is very important to highlight this aspect: he was detect. That is why we must follow the protocols that are required of all those who leave the city or enter Argentina again. " As LA NACIÓN learned, the patient was isolated in an apartment in Palermo, did not have close contacts and has already received a medical discharge.

Eduardo López, pediatric infectologist, and advisor to the Committee of Experts of the Presidency of the Nation and of the Province of Buenos Aires government, points out that it would be very important to know if the close contacts of this man gave negative diagnostic tests. "As much as it is a business trip, this man, who came in December, must have been in contact with hotel employees if he stayed in a hotel, or cohabitants, if he stayed at a home. It is important to know if the strain was confined to a very small nucleus or only to the traveler.

"The UK variant was spotted, but that doesn't mean it's circulating. "It has only been identified", emphasizes Josefina Campos, coordinator of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Platform of the Anlis/Malbrán Institute. "We are monitoring four variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus: that of South Africa, that of Manaus, that of Rio de Janeiro and that of the United Kingdom - she adds -. The latter two have been detected in the country. The Rio de Janeiro variant was found in community circulation, but there is no local study that analyzes whether or not it generates more disease, because these studies must be carried out where the variant is circulating. As for the one from the UK, which is circulating in many countries of the world, studies confirm that it has a higher transmissibility, but there is no conclusive research that indicates that it produces a greater degree of disease or a decrease in the immune response. These are studies in progress, the work continues. "

"According to data from the Institute of Public Health of England - points out Dr. López, who is also a professor of vaccination at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Salvador - the UK variant is not a more deadly strain. At first it was believed to be stronger, but now it is known that it is 35% more globally contagious. That level of possibility of contagion varies according to age. First they said that it infected more children. Then it was confirmed that it is not like that: from 0 to 9 years old the capacity to produce contagion is 9%; in adolescents, 12% and in adults it jumps to 20% percent ".

Two races
Dr. Roberto Debbag, pediatric infectologist and vice president of the Latin American Society of Pediatric Infectology (Slipe), indicates that the fact that the UK variant has now been detected does not imply that it is not in circulation in the country. "Now it has been documented, that is the difference," he points out, "but we know that it has been circulating in England since September and that it has been spreading throughout Europe, so it cannot be ruled out that it had arrived earlier and is circulating. In times of pandemic, the circulation is very fast ". The specialist adds that from the epidemiological point of view "the new strain has a higher transmissibility, but a lower rate of complications and mortality than we already know. It can aggravate a situation that is already complicated, although it does not produce greater gravity, because we already have gravity ". And he concludes by stating that at this moment there are two races on the planet: "One is the one which the virus has, when going from human to human being, gains possibilities of being genetically modified and to generate new variants, whose final goal is to transform itself into another virus, with which we would return to zero, something undesirable that we hope does not happen. The other race is to ensure that the population has access to effective and safe vaccines to reduce viral transmission by achieving high vaccination rates. There are two ways to prevent the virus from meeting it's goal: vaccines and finding the asymptomatic and testing them with PCR's of quality to cut transmission. "

Immunization
Are the vaccines available in the world to control the UK variant? "Yes," says Dr. López. "Studies carried out by vaccine producers, including Sputnik V, show that they are still effective against this mutation."

And Gentile adds: "The first thing you pay attention to is whether these mutations occur in the spike protein (protein S). Throughout the pandemic there were many mutations, but those in the UK, South Africa and Rio de Janeiro received more attention because they are in the protein that binds to the ACE 2 receptor, the key that allows the virus to enter cells. While the Rio variant has six mutations, the UK one has 23. But it does not translate into more serious clinical pictures, or more hospitalizations. Nor does it affect the efficacy of the vaccines. "

Instead, Dr. Debbag says that studies documented that the Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines work against the UK, Rio de Janeiro, and South African variants. "But we have no data on Sputnik V," he says, "they are all communiqués from the same institute that produces it."

All experts agreed to emphasize the same recommendations against SARS-CoV-2: wear masks correctly, maintain social distance, wash hands often or clean them with 70% alcohol or gel alcohol, avoid crowds and closed places . "The more transmissibility, the more risk that in the successive replications some of the copies that the virus makes of itself will come out 'failed' when it enters the cell and mutations begin. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the virus from being transmitted" Gentile concludes.

 

[artisans]

The Cavalry is coming...
"We have exceeded 200,000 doses applied: 200,759," announced Health Access Secretary Carla Vizzotti at a press conference.
with 100,000 more jabs of the first batch still to be deployed.
She also confirmed that 300,000 more doses, the second of the two required jabs, were being picked up in Moscow by a plane provided by Aerolíneas Argentinas, which is due to arrive back in Buenos Aires later today (Saturday 1-16-21).
A further shipment from Russia is expected in February, which will allow the immunisation programme to reach greater numbers.
Source: https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/arg...on-and-care-as-fatalities-surpass-45000.phtml

Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine: details of the final stage of supplying the 22.4 million doses for Argentina and the 150 million for the region. The production plan is underway and the vaccine will be available during the first half of the year.
Source: https://www.infobae.com/america/cie...-argentina-y-las-150-millones-para-la-region/

 

[gracielle]

Parte hacia México la sustancia activa de Oxford/AstraZeneca para envasar el primer lote de vacunas | En agosto, Alberto Fernández había anunciado el acuerdo y que las primeras dosis llegarán a Argentina en marzo

El laboratorio argentino mAbxience envía la materia prima y la planta mexicana de Liomont se encargará de ultimar los detalles del proceso productivo.

www.pagina12.com.ar

17 January 2021
....To the 300 thousand doses of Sputnik that arrived on Saturday, the remaining ones will be added to complete the 20 million, the million from the Chinese vaccine made by the state company Sinopharm, the 22.4 million from AstraZeneca/Oxford that will arrive in March and the 9 million that will be received from the Covax platform, the global access fund that is led by the World Health Organization and whose creation endorsement was signed by 172 nations. Finally, the Government does not rule out unlocking the misunderstandings with Pfizer or closing, in the coming days, an agreement for the arrival of Moderna.

 

[artisans]

Parte hacia México la sustancia activa de Oxford/AstraZeneca para envasar el primer lote de vacunas | En agosto, Alberto Fernández había anunciado el acuerdo y que las primeras dosis llegarán a Argentina en marzo

El laboratorio argentino mAbxience envía la materia prima y la planta mexicana de Liomont se encargará de ultimar los detalles del proceso productivo.

www.pagina12.com.ar

17 January 2021

Kudos to Gracielle for uncovering this article in Pagina 12. It's a great read and a large window on what's in the works and what to expect and maybe best of all it shows Argentina in an important role producing vaccine, meeting the deadlines, and protecting eventually more countries in South America.