COVID-19 vaccine development pipeline gears up

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Moderna wants to pack 50% more Covid vaccine per vial

US biotech firm Moderna said Friday it was seeking clearance with regulators around the world to put 50 percent more coronavirus vaccine into each of its vials as a way to quickly boost current supply levels.

medicalxpress.com

 

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Presidente de Chile se vacunó contra el COVID-19 con Sinovac - Diario La República

Al mandatario, de 71 años, le correspondía inocularse esta jornada según el calendario de vacunación dispuesto por el Ejecutivo, debido a que integra el grupo de riesgo de los adultos mayores, quienes tienen mayor prioridad.

www.republica.com.uy

13 February 2021
President of Chile was vaccinated against COVID-19 with Sinovac. The 71-year-old president was inoculated on this day according to the vaccination schedule established by the Executive, because he is part of the risk group of older adults, who have higher priority....His next dose of the Sinovac vaccine should be applied on March 12, at any vaccination facility available in the country....The Minister of Health of Chile, Enrique Paris, was also inoculated against COVID-19 with the first dose of the product made by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, because he is within the priority group of older adults....Chile is very likely to be the first emerging country to achieve herd immunity. The South American country is among the five countries in the world that has administered the most vaccines. If everything goes according to plan, it would be able to overcome the infections by the end of the second quarter of 2021.

 

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Quienes podrán vacunarse según los nuevos lineamientos del Ministerio de Salud

A partir de las nuevas directrices del Ministerio de Salud podrán aplicarse la Sputnik V embarazadas, personas con enfermedades autoinmunes e inmunocomprometidos que integren los grupos ya priorizados por los expertos para vacunarse.

www.perfil.com

11 February 2021
Who can be vaccinated according to the new guidelines of the Ministry of Health.
....with the Sputnik V pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding, people with autoimmune diseases and immunocompromised people who are part of the groups already prioritized by the experts for the vaccination. This was the proposal of the National Immunization Commission (CoNaIn) in consensus with various Scientific Societies and external experts from the Ministry.

The document explains that "in line with the analysis and recommendations published in recent weeks in other countries, the Ministry of Health has been recommended to exclude the concept of "contraindication for vaccination against COVID-19 to pregnant women, women in lactation period, immunocompromised people or people with autoimmune diseases that are part of the groups that belong to the target population to be vaccinated (as long as the vaccine platform used is NOT live and attenuated viruses). To learn more about it from the infectologist, Angela Gentile. "It must be made clear that we are not massively indicating vaccination in pregnant women". "It is vaccination in immunocompromised or lactating pregnancies, but that only belong to high-risk groups."

Later on the vaccination plan, the specialist assured that “we need to increase the rate of vaccination. The strategy is adequate, because it was much discussed. First application to medical personnel, then to people aged 70 and over because they are the ones who are hospitalized and die, and also the ones in essential forces ”....To learn more about it from the infectologist, Angela Gentile. "It must be made clear that we are not massively indicating vaccination in pregnant women". "It is vaccination in immunocompromised or lactating pregnancies, but that only belong to high-risk groups."

Later on the vaccination plan, the specialist assured that “we need to increase the rate of vaccination. The strategy is adequate, because it was much discussed. First application to medical personnel, then to people aged 70 and over because they are the ones who are hospitalized and die, and also the ones in essential forces ”....

 

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WHO approves AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday listed AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, widening access to the relatively inexpensive shot in the developing world.

www.reuters.com

 

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The Russian Sputnik V is effective against the British variant of the coronavirus . Its effectiveness was corroborated by the Vektor Center for Virology and Biotechnology of Russia, which stated that the same occurs with EpiVacCorona , the other vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 developed in that country.
The confirmation of the efficacy of both vaccines against the variant that put the United Kingdom in check for its greater contagiousness and that spread throughout almost the world was released by Rospotrebnadzor, the Russian body in charge of consumer protection .
The British variant is also present in Argentina. A report from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Nation confirmed days ago that even that community transmission of this variant was already detected .

La Sputnik V es eficaz contra la variante británica del coronavirus | Fue corroborado por los investigadores rusos

La vacuna que se aplica en la Argentina demostró ser útil contra esa mutación del SARS-CoV-2, que está presente en el país y de la cual ya hay transmisión comunitaria. Lo mismo ocurre con la EpiVacCorona, que también fue desarrollada en Rusia.

www.pagina12.com.ar

 

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Coronavirus: llegó a la Argentina el cargamento con 580.000 vacunas de la India

El vuelo QR 8155 de Qatar Airways, proveniente de Doha, aterrizó en el aeropuerto de Ezeiza a las 2.57 de este miércoles. Ginés dijo que en agosto o septiembre podrían estar vacunadas todos los mayores de 18 años

www.clarin.com

17 February 2021
Covishield....Coronavirus: the shipment with 580,000 vaccines from India arrived in Argentina on Qatar Airways flight QR 8155, from Doha. It landed at Ezeiza Airport at 2:57am this Wednesday. The shipment with 580,000 doses of the Covishield coronavirus vaccine, developed by India with technology from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is the vaccine, produced at the Serum Institute of India (the world's largest vaccine manufacturer), which was approved on an emergency basis by the Argentine government on Monday, February 8....

....Unlike Sputnik, Covishield has fewer logistical problems, as it can be stored at temperatures closer to the standard (between 2 ° C and 8 ° C)....It is made up of a weakened version of a chimpanzee common cold virus (known as adenovirus) and has been modified to look more like the coronavirus, without causing illness. Like any vaccine, when it is injected into the body, it causes the immune system to start producing antibodies and prepares it to attack any coronavirus infection. It is given in two doses 4 to 12 weeks apart.

González García stated that "there have been no serious adverse events nor have significant differences been identified in the efficacy observed in the different age groups that participated in clinical trials." The Government said on Tuesday that the 520,000 doses that will arrive a few hours later "are part of a total of 1,160,000 doses that the Argentine State will acquire through the Serum Institute of India."....

 

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https://www.lanacion.com.ar/el-mund...a-desconcierta-a-los-cientificos-nid16022021/
16 February 2021....via Associated Press
Coronavirus: Falling Cases in India Baffles Scientists. New Delhi - When the coronavirus pandemic began to spread in India, there were fears that the virus could sink the fragile health system of the second most populous country in the world. For months, infections rose at high speed and at one point it seemed that India would surpass the United States as the country with the most cases. But infections began to drop in September and the country now reports about 11,000 new cases a day, compared with a peak of nearly 100,000, which has puzzled experts.

They have suggested many possible explanations for the sudden drop in almost all regions, such as that some areas may have achieved herd immunity or that the Indians had some pre-existing protection from the virus. The government has also said that part of the decline is due to the use of masks, mandatory in India and with large fines for breaking the norm in some cities. But experts point out that the situation is more complicated, as the decline is uniform despite the irregular use of face masks in some regions....

...."If we don't know why, we could do something without knowing that it could cause a rebound," said Dr. Shahid Jameel, a virus researcher at Asoka University in India. Like other countries, India does not identify all infections, and its system for counting deaths from the virus has been questioned. But the pressure on the country's hospitals has also eased in recent weeks, another indicator that infections are falling. When registered cases surpassed 9 million in November, official figures showed that nearly 90% of intensive care beds with ventilators in New Delhi were occupied. Occupancy last Thursday was just 16%. That success cannot be attributed to vaccines, because India started giving the injections in January. Forecasts should improve as more people are vaccinated, although experts are concerned about variants of the virus identified in other countries, which appear more contagious and more resistant to some treatments and vaccines.

Herd immunity?...."Innate immunity"....New variants....
As the reasons for India's success are unclear, experts fear that people will let their guard down. Much of the country has resumed normal life. In many cities you see open markets, crowded roads and nearly full restaurants. "With the reduction in numbers, I think the worst of Covid-19 is over," said M.B. Ravikumar, an architect who recovered after being hospitalized last year. "We can all breathe a sigh of relief."

Maybe not, said Jishnu Das, a health economist at Georgetown University who advises the state of West Bengal on managing the pandemic. "We don't know if this will come back after three or four months," he warned.

 

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Para marzo el Gobierno tendrá un avión de Aerolíneas Argentinas con capacidad para trasladar hasta un millón de dosis

Las reformas sobre una de las aeronaves culminarían en las próximas dos semanas. Podrían cargar 600 mil en la bodega y 400 mil en la cabina

www.infobae.com

17 February 2021....by Joaquín Mugica Díaz
By March, the Government will have an Aerolineas Argentinas plane with the capacity to transport up to one million doses.
The reforms on one of the aircraft will culminate in the next two weeks. They could load 600 thousand in the cellar and 400 thousand in the cabin...The national government has a defined objective in health matters: to bring to Argentina as many vaccines as possible. The more doses there are, the more volume the vaccination plan can take in a short time. That longing confronts reality....

....Aeronautical sources explained to Infobae that afterwards the amount of vaccines they can load is subject to the way they are wrapped and the size they are. That is, the loads are made based on the volume of the packages, not on the quantities of doses, and therefore the number can be done....Airlines have already made technical inquiries to Airbus, which is the world's leading aircraft manufacturer, to make all the modifications. Then they will need a final approval by the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC), which must give the go-ahead to the reforms that were carried out. The plane would be reconfigured with freighter mode.

The Airbus 330 fleet that Aerolineas Argentinas has is made up of 10 aircraft, which are destined to cover international destinations. Two of those ten are dedicated to the task of bringing vaccines to the country, but since there was not much demand, they are always working with the same plane. In other words, the four flights to Russia were with the same airliner. The plane with the LV-GIF license plate is the one that is being modified and will shortly be available for the Government to use in order to bring more doses in a short time. It is part of the logistics plan to improve the supply of vaccines. The first link in the chain to give volume to the vaccination plan designed by Ginés Gonzáles García and his team.

 

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Coronavirus: cómo impacta la inmunización masiva en la propagación | Dos expertas analizan el avance de los procesos de vacunación en todo el mundo

Las especialistas Daniela Hozbor y Leda Guzzi advierten que es pronto para extraer conclusiones, pero que, según la evidencia, en países con vacunaciones masivas las hospitalizaciones y las muertes disminuyen de manera marcada. Argentina podrá inocular...

www.pagina12.com.ar

17 February 2021....by Pablo Esteban
Coronavirus: How Mass Immunization Impacts Spread. Specialists Daniela Hozbor (Conicet) and Leda Guzzi (Sociedad Argentina de Infectología (SADI), warn that it is too early to draw conclusions, but that, according to the evidence, in countries with massive vaccinations, hospitalizations and deaths decrease markedly. Argentina will be able to inoculate 1 million people next week.

Argentina will have, starting this week, with almost a million doses of vaccines to inoculate: to the 400 thousand of Sputnik that arrived from Moscow on Friday afternoon, the 580 thousand that, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford, will arrive to the country as “extra items” from the Serum Institute of India, one of the largest production plants on the planet. The government agreed that, in addition to the 22.4 million that should arrive from Mexico as of March, the country will receive two items of 580,000, one this month and the other the next. In this way, with available doses and as the immunization process progresses, some questions arise. Does the public know, for sure, how vaccines act in the body?....

....Hozbor: “The campaign that is being carried out in Israel has impressive data. They are using Pfizer's and they have a very low percentage of the population over 60 years left to inoculate. It is precisely in this group of older adults where hospitalization and mortality have been reduced very markedly ”. And she concludes: "Vaccination is also combined with a strategy of proven efficacy: they are also under strict quarantine there."

 

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El Reino Unido autorizó infectar con coronavirus a personas sanas para probar la eficacia de los fármacos y las vacunas

Unos 90 voluntarios de entre 18 y 30 años serán inoculados con la variante británica, en un estudio aprobado por un comité de ética. El primer paso será determinar qué cantidad de virus es la mínima requerida para generar el contagio

www.infobae.com

17 February 2021
The United Kingdom authorized the infection of healthy people with coronavirus to test the efficacy of drugs and vaccines. The first step will be to determine what amount of virus is the minimum required to generate contagion. In a statement, the ministry says that the UK will be the first country in the world to carry out such studies in this pandemic....

....Starting in March, around 90 volunteers between 18 and 30 years old, who will be compensated for their participation, will be inoculated in a safe and controlled way to determine, in a first phase, the minimum amount of virus required for infection to be generated , which will then make it easier to test vaccines and drugs. When this data has been determined, the intention is to administer vaccines considered safe to a small group of volunteers who will be infected with the virus, in order to verify the immune reaction and that this serves to refine and accelerate the tests of the preparations to larger scale. The virus variant with which the volunteers, who are now being recruited, will initially be infected will be the one circulating in the UK since March 2020 and which has been shown to be low risk for healthy young adults. states in the note....