11/08/2020 5:13 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 11/08/2020 5:14 PM
Eleven coronavirus vaccines are currently in phase 3 testing, the most advanced before approval and use beyond the scope of research.
Here, a summary of the
Russian and Oxford vaccine
situation
.
Russia's
touted
offer to access 25 million doses of the Sputnik V candidate
that could arrive between December and January is not the only one expected to be tested in Argentina.
The Minister of Health, Gines González García, had advanced that: "As soon as the law that declares the purchase and distribution of coronavirus vaccines of public interest is enacted,
we will sign with AstraZeneca
, with production capacity as of March, that it will last until the end of June-July (2021), for 22.4 million doses of vaccine ".
The latter and
Sputnik V would
require the application of two doses per person.
Sputnik V
On August 11, 2020, President
Vladimir Putin announced the approval of the vaccine, dubbed Sputnik V
, even before phase 3 trials began. The measure was criticized for its risks.
Russia adjusted the measure and noted that the approval was a
"conditional registration certificate"
that would depend on the results of the phase 3 trials. Those trials, initially planned for just 2,000 volunteers, were expanded to 40,000.
The vaccine is based on adenovirus vectors, like that from
AstraZeneca in Oxford
.
Although it has one characteristic that distinguishes it: it uses two different adenoviruses - one for the first dose and another for the second - with the speculation that this would increase the immune response.
Spokesmen for the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) - which finances the production of this vaccine - explain that it
does not contain live human adenoviruses
, but uses human adenoviral "vectors" that cannot reproduce "and are completely safe for health."
On September 4, Russian researchers found that Sputnik V
produced antibodies
against the coronavirus and
mild side effects
.
Meanwhile, Russia was negotiating agreements to supply the vaccine to different countries such as Brazil, Mexico and India.
Argentina has now joined that list.
The
development of the Russian vaccine
belongs to the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.
The development of vaccines against the coronavirus has been done in time.
Photo Reuters / Archive.
AstraZeneca and University of Oxford
The British-Swedish company
AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford
develop a vaccine based on a chimpanzee adenovirus called ChAdOx1, which began phase 2/3 trials in England and India (where it is known as Covishield).
In addition, AstraZeneca launched phase 3 trials in Brazil, South Africa and the United States.
On September 6,
AstraZeneca
halted vaccine trials to investigate a volunteer who developed a form of inflammation called transverse myelitis.
Within a week, the trials began again in all countries
except the US
, where they only resumed on October 23.
Part of the manufacture of this vaccine
is carried out in Argentina
.
A vial labeled with the legend "Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine."
Photo Reuters.
In September, the firm launched a
phase 3 trial
in which it enrolled up to 15,000 volunteers in the UK and which could deliver results as
early as 2021
.
The
vaccine
that AstraZeneca developed with the
University of Oxford is the cheapest on
the market at $ 4 per dose.
The
Sputnik V cost more than twice
, about $ 10 a dose.
The first and only agreement that Argentina has signed so far is that of AstraZeneca
.
It will be for 22 million doses, the company reported this Saturday at noon and later the Ministry of Health.
They noted that deliveries are expected to begin during the first half of 2021,
in case the ongoing trials are successful
.