01/11/2021 13:22
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 01/11/2021 1:22 PM
The Government is evaluating the possibility of applying only the first dose of Sputnik V to a larger group of people and "deferring the second dose until the outbreak is controlled."
It was confirmed by the Secretary of Access to Health, Carla Vizzotti.
In this regard, the infectologists consulted by
Clarín
say that
it is not clear how effective
the application of a single dose of this vaccine against the coronavirus would be.
"We know that the efficacy with the two doses exceeds 90%, but the details of what happens only with the first one have not been published," says Eduardo López, infectologist at the Ricardo Gutiérrez Hospital and a member of the presidential advisory committee.
According to the expert, it would be important to know what happens to the effectiveness in terms of
global disease
(the possibility of contracting the virus) and
severe disease
(the chances of preventing serious complications).
“If it protects against serious disease at least 70% it could be useful.
But it is information that we do not have ”, he explains.
“We know that the second dose, which has a different vector, should be given between 21 and 60 days.
Nor do we have certainty about
what may happen to immunity if we go beyond that date,
"adds López.
López emphasizes that vaccinating only with the first dose could not achieve "herd immunity", since it should reach 70% of the population.
"In this sense, we cannot say that the circulation of the virus will decrease", he remarks.
Asked about the situation in England, where the possibility of immunizing twice as many people with a single dose was also considered, López assures that that country has the Pfizer vaccine, which does have its effectiveness published (it is 52% with only the first dose) to assess the best way forward.
"The same with AstraZeneca, which reaches about 64%," he adds.
Arnaldo Casiró, head of Infectious Diseases at Hospital Álvarez, agrees that there is a
lack of clarification
on effectiveness and that there is no
scientific
paper available
to analyze possibilities and understand the new health strategy.
"
There is a reason for giving two doses
, because with one they did not achieve the desired results.
We are talking about two different components.
First Bd26 and then Bd5.
Only with both would the 90% efficiency be exceeded.
That is what they say, because we still do not have phase 3 data published in a scientific journal, that is a problem for me, ”says Casiró.
The Álvarez specialist speaks of a
"half vaccination"
.
“I consider it risky.
It is not clear what happens to the effectiveness of the first or
how long it lasts if we do not give ourselves the second in time
, "he explains.
And take the case of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“If they confirmed that with Sputnik the same levels of efficacy can be reached, that is, 64% with a single dose, we would still be leaving 36% of those vaccinated without immunity.
It's a lot ”, he adds.
“They are not explaining to us
what the medium-term health plan is
.
In principle, they only try to vaccinate more people, but that is not enough.
It is not even that Sputnik is being used today for people over 60 and it seeks to immunize nursing home residents with the first doses to lower mortality in this group, "adds Casiró.
At the end of December, when the first 300,000 doses arrived in the country, the Reuters agency had reported that the first dose of the vaccine was easier to prepare and that there were delays in the production of the second component.
For the moment, Vizzotti raised the possibility of replacing part of the delivery of second doses with another load of the first, which had already been anticipated by Clarín.
Of the batch of 4.7 million doses due to arrive at the end of this month, 3.7 million will be Component 1.
"The most important health decision that we have to consider is whether we want to have
10 million people vaccinated by March with two doses or if we prefer to have 20 million people with only one,
" said the official and stressed that, in case of opting for vaccinate twice as many people, they would aim to "defer the second until the outbreak is under control."
ACE
Look also
The Government does not rule out applying a single dose of Sputnik V to reach 20 million vaccinated people in March
Russia authorizes clinical trials of the “light” version of the Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus