Emilia Vexler
07/11/2020 - 18:57
- Clarín.com
- Society
There is no doubt that the vast majority of testing vaccines are first tested in the Northern Hemisphere. This is true for any disease. But in the particular case of the coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, the initial security tests that were carried out in Germany and in the United States will bring it directly to Argentina. Without scales. So that its effectiveness is tested here and, at the same time, that factor puts the country in a " privileged place" when the distribution stage begins.
The progress of the effectiveness test - which is subsequent to the "security" test - in the country that governs Donald Trump is the point that will mark when it begins to be tested here. But that Argentina has been chosen simultaneously with those two powers that are also at the pharmaceutical level, would give our country that "advantage" in supplying worldwide and especially regionally.
"We are the 'additional' country for testing. This does not rule out others joining later. But the first - and for now the only - country that has been chosen in addition to the tests that Germany and the United States did is us," says Clarín Fernando Polack, principal investigator of the study that will be carried out from August. And he adds: "The first answers about effectiveness could be at the end of the year . "
Due to his career, both in the United States and Argentina, Polack has been part of the elite of infectious diseases of the Government's small consultation table since the outbreak began at the local level. He is the scientific director of the Infant Foundation and the person in charge of carrying out the main investigation of vaccination trials in the country.
When would it start to apply to the first volunteers? When approved by the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT). Something that could happen over the next 30 days.
The coronavirus marked a break in history worldwide. But Argentina is about to assume this fundamental role. Why was she chosen as a "companion" - as Polack tells you, to mark the simultaneity with those two countries - in efficacy trials in German and American territory? For several reasons.
The first, says the expert, is that his team - focused on respiratory diseases - "is a group with many years of international experience". This translates into participation in all international forums. "If not, this would never happen," underlines what resulted in a "credential for them to come to Argentina . " The second cause is the Government's support for the progress of this evaluation. "This allowed the sponsors to feel secure in the framework in which they come to work," he adds. The third reason, he details, is that our country already has a "anchored" tradition of doctors and infectious diseases -by the expert vaccinologists who are eminences worldwide-, which gave it the potential to be a candidate. "This also builds trust for the project," says Polack.
The infectologist Fernando Polack will be in charge of the team that will conduct the tests of the coronavirus vaccine in Argentina. Photo: Germán García Adrasti
But was it just for good fame? No. "The fourth reason is that the plasma allocation protocol - the antibody treatment generated by those who had the virus and were cured - that we started a while ago and hope to have the first readings (in the sense of" conclusions ") in August, he showed how public and private sectors and the third sector, in this case, the Infant Foundation, can be integrated to develop a difficult, challenging and important project for Public Health. "
What concrete benefit does Argentina have for having been chosen for tests on human subjects? "No company that is testing vaccines against this virus today has the installed capacity to produce enough doses to protect the world population . Not even to protect the citizens of the country from which these companies originate. So this trial it opens the door for Argentina to better position itself in the 'row' of countries that in unison are trying to manage vaccines, "says Polack.
What would be the assignment in the country of an effective vaccine? "All the authorities in the world, not only here, will have to define priorities. For this purpose, the World Health Organization (WHO) established priority groups. The first is Health personnel , who in our country do not exceed 500,000 people, "he says.
Before that, which people will be chosen to test the vaccine? The aim is for the evaluation to be "the most representative of diversity" . Not in terms of gender, but territory. It will be vaccinated in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (AMBA) - where 95% of new infections are concentrated - and in other provinces not yet defined. It will be done in the public and private sectors in health personnel , "from doctors to stretcher-bearers, those who are at direct risk", first, then in "people who are permanently working on the street despite the quarantine "and thirdly, to people over 65 ," the most vulnerable to the virus. "
But, also, in "the woman or man who is at home and can participate as a volunteer," says the infectologist. Those who are between 18 and 85 years old can be offered.
What will be the evaluation of each case and the public communication of the final results? As the international pharmaceutical companies are in charge of the trials, there are still no details about what our country's right will be over that information. What is clear, and it is a unique advantage, is that Argentina, as never before in the field of vaccine testing, will have its own data.
"It is important to have data on how it works in Argentina , to make decisions at the central level. This is an opportunity for the Public Health authorities of Argentina to have first-hand information and, very quickly, of its operation in our population and not they have to be guided by data from other populations in the world ", closes Polack.
This clarification is due to the fact that it is not uncommon for some vaccines to behave differently according to lifestyle habits, socioeconomic conditions, and genetic conditions. In case it happens, then, Argentina will know how effective this coronavirus vaccine is, precisely, in Argentines.
What is Coronavirus? How is it spread and what are its symptoms?
Watch the specialSC