Vanesa Lopez
11/03/2020 14:07
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 11/03/2020 2:07 PM
President Alberto Fernández reported that Argentina would be in a position to receive, between December and January, 25 million doses of Sputnik V vaccines developed in Russia against Covid-19.
But his arrival is full of doubts, fears, and questions, like the ones we answer below.
How does the vaccine work?
The vaccine
is based on adenovirus vectors
, like the one from AstraZeneca and the Chinese one from CanSino.
"Vectors" are vehicles that can introduce genetic material from another virus into a cell.
The adenovirus gene, which is the cause of the infection, is removed and a gene encoding the protein of another virus is inserted in its place.
This vaccine has a characteristic that distinguishes it from the others.
Use two different adenoviruses
, one for the first dose (AD5) and one for the second dose (AD26), which are given 21 days apart.
The speculation is that this would increase the immune response.
Will it be free?
The Secretary of Access to Health, Carla Vizzotti, and the advisor Cecilia Nicolini, affirmed that "Argentina and the world" are signing contracts to ensure its provision before the results of phase 3 of clinical trials are known and that
their application in the country it will be free
and aimed first at risk groups.
"It will be free for the entire population," Nicolini stressed.
The Russian Sputnik V vaccine is based on adenovirus vectors.
Photo Reuters.
Who would they apply it to?
The Government aspires to vaccinate, first,
the sectors that are at risk
, throughout the country.
"If everything goes as expected, our country will be in a position to begin vaccinating the population at risk between the end of this year and the beginning of the next," President Alberto Fernández wrote on Twitter.
This is a very important advance, because if everything goes as expected, our country will be in a position to begin vaccinating the population at risk between the end of this year and the beginning of next.
- Alberto Fernández (@alferdez) November 3, 2020
For his part, Nicolini announced that the distribution "will be equitable,
with a federal vision
" that prioritizes "risk groups, health personnel and security forces."
"It will begin with health and safety personnel, the essential ones, and those people who are a population at risk due to their age or health conditions", the Buenos Aires governor, Axel Kicillof, completed in dialogue with Rock & Pop.
How many doses will go to each district?
In the
Province
, the priority population to be vaccinated reaches
6 million people.
This includes health personnel, police, teachers, people over 60 and over 18 with risk factors.
“We aspire to have 6 million doses.
The point is that we don't know how many we are going to have.
Because in addition to the Russian there are other vaccines, perhaps there are others that arrive earlier, ”
spokesmen for the Ministry of Health
told
Clarín
.
In the
City
, sources from the Ministry of Health commented that the amount of vaccines they will need depends on the strategy to be vaccinated, for example, if it includes only risk groups.
It will be applied first in risk groups., Photo Reuters.
In
Córdoba
, a million people could receive the vaccine, according to what was published in
La Voz
.
Sources from the provincial Ministry of Health assured that the target population that will receive the first doses is already defined.
They will be health workers, over 60 years of age and patients with comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, as well as strategic personnel such as security agents.
In
Mendoza
, at the moment they did not give figures.
"The age of older adults is being defined and the comorbidities that impact Covid the most are being reviewed, so an exact number cannot be given (of how many people it will reach in the first instance)," said the province's director of Immunizations. , Iris Aguilar, to the newspaper
Los Andes.
How are the preparations?
"
We are preparing
ourselves for, when they arrive, start giving them," they say from the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health.
The operation includes the adaptation of vaccine protocols, the training of vaccinators (because all vaccines have some particularity in their method of application, care and handling of doses) and the incorporation of
more than 2,500 vaccinators
who belong to to nursing schools, which are added to the more than 2,900 that are already in the Buenos Aires territory.
In Argentina, the Sputnik V application will be free.
Photo Bloomberg.
In addition, the processes of purchasing syringes, needles, items for the assembly of vaccination points, cotton, hygiene items, preservatives and refrigerators began.
While the Tomas Perón Biological Institute is producing alcohol on a large scale to supply the vaccination points.
If you give yourself that vaccine, can you later give yourself another vaccine to prevent Covid?
The answer is
negative
.
"You should not give yourself another vaccine, because the risk is not known," says Omar Sued, president of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases (SADI).
Should a person who had asymptomatic coronavirus be vaccinated?
“
The answer today is yes
.
If I had coronavirus two or six months ago, and the vaccine arrives, I must get vaccinated.
It is the indication that we have today in general terms, when we do not yet have the first approved vaccine with the corresponding leaflet, ”said Dr. Daniel López Rossetti, a specialist in medical clinic and cardiology, on Telefé.
Are the transportation and refrigeration costs high?
“An advantage of this vaccine is that it is
lyophilized
.
In a very small vial comes the vaccine powder.
To assemble it, you have to inject the solvent.
The vial and the solvent
are transported at room temperature
, in a cool place, but not under 60 degrees, and not even in a refrigerator.
That would be a very important advantage, because it can be moved without refrigeration, ”explained López Rossetti.
An advantage of this vaccine is that it is transported at room temperature.
Photo Bloomberg.
For his part, Vizzotti pointed out that it is a vaccine that is "
very simple to produce
", which facilitates mass production, and which is easier to maintain.
Likewise, Vizzotti pointed out that the prices "of the vaccines that have been offered to us are between 5 and 10 dollars per dose", but the cost of maintenance and distribution must be evaluated.
Where will the vaccine be produced?
The Russian authorities clarified what is produced in Russia will be used for Russian citizens.
Kirill Dmitriev, executive director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which finances the project, said that "the Sputnik V vaccine for Argentina will be produced by our partners in
India, Korea, China
and by several other countries that are preparing production of the Russian vaccine ".
What stage of development is it at?
Vizzotti said that the Russian vaccine "entered its
phase 3 with 40,000 people
" and "they believe that the results of this phase may be in before the end of the year."
"With this and all the vaccines, all the registration steps will be followed in relation to safety, efficacy and effectiveness," he said and explained that he had already sent all the information collected during his trip to Russia to the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT), which will be in charge of its approval.
DD
Look also
Coronavirus: doubts and criticism of Together for Change regarding the purchase of the Russian vaccine that the Government provides
Daniel Gollan, on the Russian vaccine against coronavirus: "It will be a spectacular health success"