“It is better to apply two doses of the same vaccine, but if there is no other remedy …”

If there is one respected and expert voice on viruses, pandemics and global health threats, it is Daniel Bausch. British virologist SARS, Ebola and Coronavirus Specialist, the professor was director of the Rapid Public Health Support Team in the kingdom, with a fundamental role in the Covid epidemic in Britain and other countries around the world.

A former researcher at the London Hospital for Tropical Medicine, he moved to Geneva as Director of Emerging Threats and Global Health Security. He was an official of the World Health Organization as head of the institution’s epidemiological clinical department and still belongs to WHO as a British representative.

Their arguments were published in 200 jobs. For him, the Delta variant “is one of the most dangerous” of the coronavirus but so far the two doses of vaccines “can protect”. One dose “is not enough”, he confirms. It is skeptical about the vaccine mix, beyond the tests carried out by the Spanish Institute Carlos III with its test against thrombi with Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

“No study has been done. Studies have only been performed with two doses of the same vaccine. It is not possible to say whether it protects or not when two vaccines are mixed. Ideally it is better administer two doses of the same product. But if there is no other cure… For example: if a person is vaccinated with one dose of Moderna, the only option as a second dose is Pfizer. in this case it’s better two mixed doses than a single dose, ”he explained during a telephone conversation from Geneva with Bugle.

Alert that there will be several variants before the pandemic can be brought under control. Bausch knows Latin America, Africa and Asia very well, having been on the front lines during the hantavirus, Lassa, Sars, Ebola and coronavirus outbreaks.

– Do vaccines protect against the Delta variant, is it more contagious and fatal than the previous ones? Why is it increasing exponentially?

– To explain it, we need to understand the basic aspects of viruses. The more people who are infected, the more possibility there is to have variants that can change their characteristics. Most of these changes are harmless. But every now and then we may have a situation where a more dangerous and more transmissible virus comes out. Unfortunately, Delta is one of those more dangerous variants that we have in many countries. It started in India, but now we have it in England, the United States, and many countries around the world.

– Do current vaccines like Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen help stop this variant or would cases just be milder if people were vaccinated?

– The good news is that with Delta and even with the other variants, it seems that to date vaccines can protect. It is important to say that you must have the two doses of the vaccines which have two doses. But one dose is not enough. With both doses, it is possible to be infected but without developing a very dangerous, very serious disease.

– Is a third dose necessary if this variant comes or should the vaccines be modified?

– We do not know yet, there is no recommendation for a third dose. But people are studying this question. I think we will see in the future that maybe the vaccine will be modified to take into account this Delta variant. But not just Delta. Many variations are going to appear until we can end this pandemic. For that, we need to establish the capacity to detect sequencing, surveillance and also to vaccinate as many people as possible.

– Is confinement coming back?

– Many countries like Australia, Bangladesh, Israel, returned confined because of this Delta variant.

– Do you think that more restrictive measures in Europe, Latin America and the rest of the world will be inevitable?

– I do not know if this can be completely avoided, but we can reach a population vaccinated at 70%, 80%. A person who cannot be infected cannot have a variant from that person. Again, it is important to be able to diagnose viruses and also to protect yourself with vaccines. It depends on the country, it is also important to wear masks and to keep a social distance. In many countries, many people are not yet vaccinated.

– Does Delta affect boys and adolescents more than other variants?

– It is not yet clear whether boys are more susceptible, but in many countries boys are susceptible because many older people are already vaccinated.

– Great Britain has 10 thousand 11 thousand daily cases of this Delta variant. Do you think the UK will have to change its openness and revert to restrictions when it had already announced openness and public holidays?

– Obviously everyone wants to open up to travel and return to a normal life. But there is always a danger. It’s a decision of every government, every person, whether or not they think they can travel or open at that time. We already know that it is not just a matter of health or having an illness. It’s very important, but there are other ways of thinking about health; economic health, mental health. It costs not to be able to travel, to do business. We have seen that each country has a different way of deciding and can change.

– The Russian vaccine Sputnik V is not used in Europe and has not been approved by the European Medicines Agency. Why is the Sputnik vaccine not accepted in Europe and how to solve this problem?

– The problem is not to have the data. Without data, we must have a scientific system, and scientific advice can delay the decision on one vaccine or another. Another thing is, we can say, “This vaccine protects”, and politicians right now can say, “Okay, they can come in or they can’t come in”. The problem is not to say that Sputnik protects or does not protect, but that we do not have the shared data to make a decision.

– Do you think that vaccines can be combined? What types of scientific studies allow this type of combination and what could be the consequences?

– We don’t have a lot of data on that, because the studies that have been done relate to two doses of the same vaccine. It is not possible to say whether it protects or not when two vaccines are mixed. Ideally, it is best to administer two doses of the same product. But if there is no other remedy …

Paris. Corresponding

PS