Vanesa Lopez
12/16/2020 5:22 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 12/16/2020 5:22 PM
Some
6,000 Argentines have been
participating since August in a clinical trial carried out at the Military Hospital to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer and Biontech vaccine against the coronavirus.
But, for now, his arrival in our country is surrounded by
uncertainty
.
Argentina has not yet managed to close an agreement with Pfizer.
And the Minister of Health of the Nation, Ginés González García, assured this Tuesday that the negotiations were blocked because the company asked for "unacceptable conditions."
These novelties weigh - and a lot - among the volunteers of the clinical trial.
For example, the announcer María Isabel Sánchez
She decided to participate in the study to -from her role as a communicator- “help people cheer up”.
But now he says he feels "
disappointment, sadness and anger
."
“All of us who did this did it so that Argentina has the opportunity to
have vaccines as soon as possible
.
And now it turns out not, ”says Sánchez.
The announcer María Isabel Sánchez says she is disappointed.
“So you feel like it
was all a bit useless
.
That the country has lent itself and that 6,000 people have lent themselves to the test without knowing the results, and that now the vaccine is not there for us, it
is terrible
”, the announcer completes.
Everything,
putting the body on him
.
Because in the first dose, María Isabel had a small local reaction in her arm, of redness, heat and pain.
By the second dose they had already warned him that, being as a booster, it could
cause more symptoms
.
In fact, the day after applying it, he suffered body pain and fatigue.
For his part, the lawyer Alberto Domínguez says he is "
disappointed
" because, according to him, the Argentines who participated in the clinical trial did not receive congratulations from any national or provincial authority, and even had "indifference from society."
“In other countries they applauded those who are getting the vaccine, but
no one applauded or congratulated
the volunteers
.
And without volunteers there would have been no vaccine, ”says the 60-year-old who suffers from asthma, and still decided to undergo the test.
Or, in his own words, be a "guinea pig."
“In my case, I had a nice dance with the second dose that is the strongest and
they gave me the side effects
that are indicated in the consent forms.
I was in the room shivering, my fever went up a degree and a half, I had itching and pain, "he explains.
Asked about the lack of closure in the negotiations, the lawyer believes that "the Argentine government flirted with Russia, with AstraZeneca and did not give the Pfizer vaccine a ball" and that, therefore, "
now it has to beg for it
" .
The volunteer Graciela considers that, if there is no money, no vaccine will come to Argentina.
In any case, Domínguez does not lose hope.
“The (Pfizer) vaccine is going to be given.
Sooner or later it will arrive in Argentina.
But
it will not come now,
"he predicts.
At the age of 72, Graciela decided to undergo the test, despite her daughter's doubts and the refusal of her older granddaughter.
He spoke with
Clarín
at various stages of this process and was always optimistic.
This Wednesday, in a telephone conversation, we met another Graciela.
“I am
uncertain
and at times
angry
.
It cannot be that they tell us that the vaccine is going to come and it does not come ”, he indicates with a firm voice.
And so he continues: “I don't have confidence in the Russian vaccine.
I feel sorry for people who are anxious and now they come to tell them that there are no planes (to bring them), ”he says, referring to the minister's statements about the difficulties with air travel.
The Pfizer and BioNtech vaccine is based on messenger RNA technology.
AP Photo.
Asked about the particular situation of the Pfizer vaccine, Graciela puts it on the same scale.
"If there is no money,
no vaccine will come
to Argentina," he analyzes and complains about the attitude of the Government: "This is a laugh."
“It doesn't bother me to be a volunteer.
I am happy for what I did.
I'm not disappointed with Pfizer, not at all.
But I don't know how they are going to vaccinate people.
What are they going to vaccinate with?
I don't want them to continue to excite the people with something that they are not going to do, ”the woman closes.
"I wish (the Pfizer vaccine)
had arrived by now,
" says Harry, a 66-year-old volunteer who prefers not to publish his last name.
“I would like the one from Pfizer to come first because I put the body on it.
I have the shirt on, I fell in love with the laboratory ”, he continues.
Several countries have already approved the emergency use of this coronavirus vaccine.
AP Photo.
Harry decided to join the clinical trial "to contribute something", to "do my bit", to "put his shoulder."
And his experience was positive: he says that he was treated very well and that he only had an allergic reaction, although he attributes it to eating eggs.
“I imagined that it would already have to be (the vaccine in our country).
But I read in the newspaper that something happened between the laboratory and the Government and then they are not going to bring it in for now.
I dont know.
When I read that,
it gave me a little anger
that they did not agree, ”he shares.
Anyway, he assures that he "has no problem" with the Russian vaccine, since he does not care about nationalities.
“What interests me is effectiveness, that it be good.
I want any vaccine
to come and come soon ”, closes the volunteer.
How is the clinical trial
Some
6,000 Argentines
between the ages of 18 and 85 were selected to participate in the clinical trial, from 20,000 volunteers registered in an online form.
The study - coordinated by researcher Fernando Polack - foresees the follow-up of patients for two years with scheduled meetings at the Military Hospital.
In total, each participant will make about six visits.
The clinical trial is carried out at the Military Hospital under the coordination of researcher Fernando Polack.
Photo German Garcia Adrasti.
Only
half of the participants received the vaccine
.
The other half got a placebo, which is a substance without therapeutic action.
It is a "double blind" study, since neither doctors nor patients know who gets what.
That gives the test more objectivity.
Volunteers
do not receive money
.
They are covered with exclusive health insurance, something they sign together with the consent.
And they can leave the study whenever they want.
To carry out this program, more than 700 people work in medical care, daily consultations and the transfers of volunteers from home to the Military Hospital and vice versa.
They received special training for this study.
ACE
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