Irene Hartmann
05/25/2021 6:00 AM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 05/25/2021 6:00 AM
“We are starting to fall behind and will do so irrevocably soon. In other words, our children will not be protected, even though we were the first to register the vaccine. " The phrase, which denotes the anger expected in a competitive profile, was said by Alexander Ginzburg, in dialogue with the Russian state agency
Ria Novosti
. The director of the Gamaleya Center, headquarters for the development of the
Sputnik V
coronavirus vaccine
, is not the only one wondering when that vaccine (and let's add Sinopharm and AstraZeneca) will have the
green light for use in children and adolescents
.
The context is known: the race against Covid between pharmaceutical companies of different flags, a contest with an obvious geopolitical component.
We should add the worrying curves of the pandemic in Argentina, which led President Alberto Fernández to remark this Sunday (in an interview with CNN) that infections in children under 12 had grown by
110%
.
But Ginzburg's anger (expressed only a few days ago) is better explained if one replaces that two weeks ago the
FDA authorized the emergency use of the
Pfizer
vaccine
in the pediatric population
.
For now, in boys from 13 to 17 years old, but the horizon is to "go down" within the broad spectrum of children.
To add envy to the competition,
Moderna
, the other strong American brand - whose vaccine uses the same platform as Pfizer: messenger RNA - has advanced its trial in boys between 12 and 17 years old.
So much so that at the beginning of May it reported preliminary data confirming efficacy of
96%
in this group, without significant adverse effects.
Thus, it is easy to get to Ginzburg irritated and to the question that many Argentines ask themselves regarding the protection of their children against Covid.
Few vaccines against Covid-19 are being tested in the pediatric population. / AP
"It is necessary to obtain permission
(to use the Sputnik V vaccine)
in children," said the director of Gamaleya, before noting that "Pfizer and Moderna are conducting or have already conducted tests in children, and they already have (
advanced studies in
) 13 to 17 years ".
Then he pointed out that "children are around 20% of the population" and recalled that "they also get sick from coronavirus and, unfortunately, die from it."
Now, to whom did you address the claim?
Although
Clarín
made several inquiries to people linked to the production of this vaccine and for now could not restore that context, it is logical to deduce the existence of obstacles to advance in the direction that Ginzburg intends.
Using common sense, that expectation that bothers you so much is surely linked to
delays in the start of the several times announced trial in the pediatric population
.
Because, although in February the Minister of Health of Russia, Alexei Kuznetsov, had said that the conduct of clinical trials for the use of Sputnik in children and adolescents was being "examined", and although since then it has been said several times that the start of these trials was near, for now
there are no certain dates or an informed plan
,
local sources from the Russian Direct Investment Fund
confirmed to
Clarín
.
Sinopharm and AstraZeneca
Much more reserved is the complex world of the vaccine "
Sinopharm
", a company with strong participation of the Chinese government.
It could be said that the goal of finding an interlocutor there is an a priori hindering task.
It is difficult to access, either to make inquiries about the vaccine used in Argentina or to obtain simple press releases, or some information related to scientific publications on that drug.
However, this media contacted the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Argentina and, when asked specifically about progress regarding the use of this vaccine in the pediatric population, they responded, after a few days, that they regretted reporting their
ignorance in in relation to the “requested technical details”.
And after the consequent request to convey the query made, this time directly to Sinopharm, they responded negatively.
At the end of this note, the response of local representatives of the company was awaited, by derivation of the Embassy of Argentina in China.
The news that comes from the third vaccine applied in the country is no better:
Oxford-AstraZeneca
, also labeled as
Covishield
.
Waiting for a response from the company that at the end of this note had not yet been obtained, the latest news is from the beginning of April, when the trial carried out in England with minors between 13 and 17 years old was suspended. starred in phase 2 of a trial with that drug.
The objective of the company, then, was to have concrete results of the use of the vaccine in children and adolescents by the boreal fall, that is, September-October.
However, the resounding
cases of thrombosis
in people who had received doses of AstraZeneca in Europe collapsed that goal.
The trial was suspended.
Since then, several sources linked to the company assured, it has not been retaken.
$
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