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Coronavirus: What connects the Covid

2021-03-11T17:37:47.726Z


The fourth vaccine against Covid-19 could soon be available in the EU. Some of the funds differ in their application, availability and effectiveness. The overview.


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Johnson & Johnson vaccination doses

Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa

To contain the corona pandemic, the vaccine from the manufacturer Johnson & Johnson will probably soon be used in the European Union (EU).

The EU medicines agency EMA recommended it for approval on Thursday.

The final decision is made by the EU Commission, but its approval is a matter of form.

The corona vaccine from the US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has a special feature: the preparation only has to be administered once.

This differs from the three vaccines previously approved in the EU, which require two doses.

An overview of the differences and similarities between the means.

How do the vaccines work?

The funds from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are so-called vector vaccines.

A virus that is harmless to humans infiltrates information from the pathogen that causes disease into the body.

At Johnson & Johnson, the mode of transport is a disarmed human runny nose virus.

It contains genetic material from a surface protein with which the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen docks onto human cells.

The body cells of the vaccinated person use the built-in instructions to create this protein, and the body develops an immune response.

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The preparations from Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna, on the other hand, are so-called mRNA vaccines.

The mRNA provides the building instructions for a component of the Covid-19 pathogen.

It gets into the body's cells with the help of tiny fat droplets.

These then also produce the virus protein against which the body develops its immune response.

How well do the vaccines work?

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine reduces the risk of developing Covid-19, according to data from large phase III studies by 66 percent, or about two thirds - measured 28 days after administration.

The risk of becoming seriously or life-threatening falls by 85 percent up to that point, and from 50 days after the vaccination there was not a single serious illness.

The AstraZeneca remedy reduces the risk of illness by values ​​between 60 and 70 percent and also prevents serious to fatal courses with almost absolute certainty.

This vaccine is also able to significantly reduce the burden of disease and thus also the burden on hospitals during the pandemic.

The mRNA vaccines also protect against serious and fatal courses with almost absolute certainty.

The general effectiveness of the agents from Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna against Covid-19 is around 95 percent no later than two weeks after the second dose.

Practical data basically confirm the information from the studies.

In Israel, where Biontech vaccine was predominantly used, and in Great Britain, which vaccinated a lot of AstraZeneca, hospital admissions are falling sharply.

Studies from Israel and Great Britain also suggest that the Biontech agent significantly reduces infections with the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

How often do you vaccinate?

The Johnson & Johnson preparation only needs to be administered once.

This is simply because the company has tested its product accordingly.

In early studies, the pharmaceutical company also experimented with two doses 56 days apart.

In the group of 18 to 55 year olds, however, about one month after the single vaccination, over 90 percent of the participants had higher concentrations of neutralizing antibodies against the coronavirus in their blood.

The group then opted for a single dose.

All three other vaccines approved in the EU were tested with two doses.

At Biontech / Pfizer, the patient receives a dose every three weeks.

It takes around four weeks for Moderna products and at least four weeks for AstraZeneca.

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In a new study, AstraZeneca's remedy achieved up to 82 percent effectiveness with a greater interval between doses.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) therefore recommend waiting twelve weeks before the second vaccination.

People over 65 can now be vaccinated with the drug.

The same preparation should always be used for both vaccinations.

A later re-vaccination with another preparation - e.g. from vector to mRNA vaccine - is possible without any problems according to immunologists.

What are the side effects?

A distinction must be made here between serious side effects and so-called vaccination reactions.

The latter occur when the body's immune system deals with the vaccine and are therefore to some extent desirable for the vaccine to work.

If you want to be vaccinated against Covid-19, you have to know that these reactions occur much more frequently with both mRNA and vector vaccines than with classic vaccines based on weakened viruses, for example.

The reactions can be unpleasant, but they are not dangerous and will go away on their own.

The most common vaccine reactions to drugs against Covid-19 include pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, joint pain and chills.

Some of the symptoms occur in half of those vaccinated or even more.

Most of the time, however, the symptoms are weak to mild.

In much rarer cases, however, real side effects also occur: According to the RKI, with mRNA preparations, as with all other vaccines, "in very rare cases" immediate allergic reactions including shock cannot be ruled out.

For this reason, newly vaccinated people are observed for 15 to 20 minutes.

Allergic shocks can then be treated well.

In Denmark, vaccinations with the AstraZeneca agent were also just stopped because severe cases of blood clots had occurred in those vaccinated.

There was a death.

However, it is still unclear whether the vaccination was the cause and is being investigated.

In general, side effects of vaccinations usually occur in the hours, days, weeks or months after the administration.

Serious problems should therefore be known by now for the vaccines that have already been approved, even if they occur very rarely.

The Standing Vaccination Commission at the RKI (Stiko) also recommends vaccination for people with immunodeficiency - for example, with HIV infections, cancer or after organ transplants.

"Although people with weakened immune systems may not respond as well to the vaccine, there are no particular safety concerns," says the EMA.

Do the vaccines also protect against variants of the virus?

Initial tests by the manufacturers Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna indicate that their vaccines also protect against the two variants initially identified in Great Britain and South Africa.

However, the companies also found that those vaccinated against the variant from South Africa apparently develop a weaker immune response.

The Astrazeneca vaccine protects against the British mutant B1.1.7, which is increasingly gaining the upper hand in Germany, but there are doubts about its effectiveness against the South African variant

.

The vaccine could be adjusted if necessary, said Pfizer and Biontech.

Among other things, Moderna wants to test the effect of an additional booster dose.

However, it is still unclear whether the vaccination reactions of the mRNA vaccine would be too strong with a third dose (more on this here).

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South Africa is now relying on the preparation from Johnson & Johnson.

In a study in South Africa, according to the manufacturer, it reduced the risk of Covid 19 disease by 57 percent.

How effective it is against the mutant alone is unclear, however.

How are the vaccines stored?

A great advantage of the products from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca is that they can be kept for months at refrigerator temperatures of two to eight degrees Celsius.

The vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer, on the other hand, is stored at around minus 70 degrees.

According to the latest information from the companies, however, it remains stable for two weeks even at minus 25 to minus 15 degrees Celsius.

With the Moderna vaccine, it doesn't have to be that cold at around minus 20 degrees.

How much vaccine is planned for Germany?

The EU Commission has concluded framework agreements with a total of six manufacturers for the delivery of a total of around 2.3 billion vaccine doses.

According to the Ministry of Health, Germany has secured a good 94 million doses from Biontech / Pfizer and around 50 million from Moderna.

AstraZeneca is expected to deliver 56.3 million cans and Johnson & Johnson 36.7 million cans.

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jme / dpa

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2021-03-11

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