Wait for the second dose of Sputnik V or combine ?: what the experts say

Emilia vexler

08/04/2021 4:57 PM

• Clarín.com

• Society

Updated 08/04/2021 4:57 PM

The

coronavirus

vaccine mix

is shaping up to be a good way to give people the protection they need in the face of safety concerns - adverse effects - and unpredictable supplies.

That, in the world.

In Argentina, for the second.

More than

a million people

in the country are about to serve four months waiting for the second dose of

Sputnik V

and another 5 million were given the first injection weeks or months after that group.

Faced with the combination of vaccines available since the announcement of this Wednesday, there is now a

mixed

dilemma

.

One that is given equally in science and in those who put their shoulders.

Wait for the three million doses of component 2 promised by the Government and produced here to reach the vaccination centers?

Or take whatever puncture it is against the risks of the

Delta variant?

In this note there will be two

opposing positions.

The decision, as before vaccines were combined, has never been so personal.

There will also be a review of how vaccine mixtures are still tested around the world today.

Moderna's vaccine was the last to be added to the combination studies being carried out in the country.

Photo: Guillermo Rodríguez Adami

Most vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the respiratory disease that causes covid, the well-known

"bilateral pneumonia,

should be administered in two doses. That is the recommendation" from the factory. What the leaflet says. But several Studies support the idea that the combination of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine elicits

an immune response similar to or even stronger

than two doses from the same laboratory.

Results announced in July by a group of scientists at the University of Oxford in the UK suggest that it "sometimes" outperforms two injections of the same vaccine, and a similar conclusion is emerging from

German studies.

Countries such as Canada, France, Spain, and Norway are already implementing

vaccine combination strategies

as studies accumulate showing higher levels of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.

But

none of the previous studies tested Sputnik.

They only did it with AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

In Argentina, AstraZeneca is applied, but not yet Pfizer, which will arrive in September and was not evaluated in the mixing test carried out in both the Province and the City of Buenos Aires.

What happens with Moderna is being analyzed, which has the same technology,

messenger RNA

, as Pfizer.

Thus, our country remains "unique" by combining Sputnik V-AstraZeneca and Sputnik V-Sinopharm. 

There are already

five provinces

that joined these trials and on Monday the enrollment of volunteers began to participate in the tests in La Rioja, Córdoba and San Luis.

To wait or not to wait

"The reality is that it is very difficult to answer if it is better to wait for the second component of Sputnik instead of combining. Because I am not sure that (the Richmond laboratory) manufactures 3 million doses in a month. Or at least that they package and pack it up. It's a great production, "

Eduardo López,

head of the Medicine department at Hospital Gutiérrez and advisor to the Government

, tells

Clarín

.

His question is from the "logistical" point of view.

From the scientific point of view, it has a clearer picture.

"If we had availability of the second component, the truth is that I would prefer that the first and second components of Sputnik V be given. Now, if it is not

there, we have to look for alternatives.

And there appear the vaccine combinations. I think, of what we have, the best would be

Sputnik V, first dose, with Moderna

; and Sputnik V with AstraZeneca as second dose, "he says.

Should any particular group, such as the immunosuppressed or those over 60, wait and give the second dose of Sputnik?

For the infectologist Liliana Vázquez, from the Foundation of the Center for Infectious Studies (FUNCEI),

there is no place for waiting.

Age does not matter.

Not the pre-existing disease.

"All vaccines are approved for immunocompromised patients (those who have a disease that affects the immune system or are under treatment that lowers their defenses) and for older adults. There are no live virus vaccines. So they

all prove to be safe.

I think that if a first dose of Sputnik has already been given, a second dose of AstraZeneca or Sinopharm can be given, "he says.

The key to the trouble is that

the Delta variant is 60% more transmissible

and there is still data on a larger scale to talk about its dangerousness.

"To stop Delta, two doses of vaccines are necessary. That the population is with the complete scheme. For many people, more than three months have passed since the first dose of Sputnik.

There is a drop in their antibodies.

Some today have concentrations that already they are not protective against severe disease.

There is no population that should not receive a second dose, of what is available.

And in the future we will see if the immunosuppressed will also need a third. And if the two doses of Sinopharm are not enough, although do not be from the risk group, and need a reinforcement, it will have to be given, "he closes.

SC

Look also

Vaccine combination: with the first results, they define what the strategy will be like

Vaccine combination: what health passport will those who choose to replace the second component of Sputnik have