Silvia Gomez
07/14/2021 4:58 PM
Clarín.com
Cities
Updated 07/14/2021 4:58 PM
After a week, the
180 people
who are participating in the combination trial of coronavirus vaccines launched by the City are in good health and
without having manifested abnormal adverse reactions
.
This was confirmed to
Clarín by
the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health.
The trial was launched last week and was initially intended as a resource to mitigate the
second-dose shortfall of Sputnik V vaccines
.
But in the future, it may set a
precedent locally and globally
, and add to the research being carried out in many other countries.
Canada and Italy, for example, have already authorized the "changeability" of vaccines.
Spain recently confirmed (through the Carlos III Health Institute's Combivacs program) that combining
AstraZeneca's
vaccines
with Pfizer
enhances cellular immunity against coronavirus.
The progress of the trial in the City will allow health authorities to expand and accelerate vaccination with second doses in the population inoculated with Sputnik V, without depending on the production of this particular laboratory.
The complete scheme becomes vital in the face of the impact of
the arrival of the Delta variant
and then its community circulation.
The National Migration Directorate has already detected 15 cases.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this mutation is already
present in more than 100 countries
and is on the way to being the predominant one.
According to the City's open data information, as of Tuesday, 1,696,464 first doses and 427,578 second doses had been applied;
of the latter, 166,126 are Sputnik V.
The vaccine combination study began in the City with 180 volunteers.
Daniel Ferrante is the Buenos Aires Undersecretary of Health Planning and is in charge of this trial.
He spoke with
Clarín
and confirmed that all the people who are participating in the tests are well: "Some have had adverse symptoms, but within those that we consider normal. That is, headache, body fatigue, low-grade fever, some fever, pain in the arm or in the site where they were inoculated.
This first step was satisfactory. "
How is the trial going for these 180 volunteers?
"We have given them a diary. They have to put all the possible information related to the vaccination and how these days were passing there. They are also
monitored by phone.
And next week we will carry out a
blood
draw to obtain two measurements that will allow us have more knowledge about this combination of vaccines, "said Ferrante.
With the extraction of blood, the
amount of antibodies
developed and the neutralization power reached will be determined.
The samples are sent to the Muñiz Hospital and the University of Buenos Aires.
"The serum of the volunteers is exposed to a certain amount of virus and then the biological effect is evaluated, how the organism managed to neutralize it," explained Ferrante.
Thinking ahead, the official understands that if the effectiveness of this combination of vaccines is equivalent to current values, then it will be good news: "Because it allows flexibility that will facilitate the expansion of vaccination and
the advancement of immunization
of the population. when we are alert to the possibility of the Delta variant entering. "
So far, the volunteers participating in the vaccine combination study had no abnormal adverse effects.
Photo: Guillermo Rodríguez Adami
Although at this time Argentina has
three vaccines
, the possibility of entering others is advancing, such as Pfizer (which is already enabled by ANMAT) and
Modern
.
On the latter, approval is pending and it is known that a donation from the United States could arrive in the next few days (between 2.5 and 3 million doses).
In addition, the national government announced the purchase of 20 million more doses, which would arrive from 2022.
However, the City does not currently plan to test these vaccines.
This was confirmed by Ferrante to
Clarín
.
In the case of the trial that is being carried out, the 180 people were divided into three groups and were given second doses of AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Sputnik V. Both the health personnel who give the vaccines and the volunteers know what the vaccine is. that is applied to them.
The volunteers are all older than 21 years and should have had the first dose of Sputnik-V more than 30 days ago and have not received any other vaccine in a period of 15 days.
To the surprise even of the City,
6,000 people signed up to participate in the study.
About vaccines
The country has three vaccines that work based on two different platforms.
Sputnik V and AstraZeneca do so from a
non-replicative viral vector: it
is a virus that lacks the gene responsible for its reproduction, and this ensures that there is no risk of infection for the organism.
Viral vectors are used to carry genes from another virus against which one wants to immunize.
Meanwhile, Sinopharm works through
inactivated viruses:
Viruses are usually inactivated by heat or chemicals, destroying the virus's ability to replicate, but keeping it "intact" so that the immune system can still recognize it and generate a immune response.
According to information from the Ministry of Health of the Nation, with the second doses applied, the Sputnik V vaccine reduces the risk of death by 93.3% in people over 60 years of age, the AstraZeneca by 88.8% and the Sinopharm by 84% .
SC
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