What is the strategy change of the second dose of the Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19

The Chinese-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine was cleared for emergency use on February 21 in Argentina. First, it was only allowed for under 60s. Then, to broaden the spectrum of the immune, those over 60 years old were added and it was established to postpone the second dose for a period not exceeding three months between the first and the second dose. Now, After the announcement of the arrival of a shipment with a million doses of Sinopharm, the Ministry of Health of the Nation decided to take a turn: The second dose application will be used for those who received the first application, including 500,000 teachers from across the country.

What was opportunely planned by the nation’s health authorities as part of the prioritization of the first doses of vaccines against COVID-19 and the postponement of the second doses – at least three months – remains in effect for the rest of the vaccines and, in the case of this particular Sinopharm intake will be considered complete with the entry of these two million doses at this point.

In other words, the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will not be postponed in people who have received Sinopharm. Until now, it was not known how effective the vaccine is when given only one dose. We know that with two doses, an efficiency of 79% is achieved. Apparently the decision << It was communicated and approved within the framework of the meeting of the National Immunization Commission on Tuesday April 20 and the Federal Health Council on Wednesday April 21 ”.

The measure to seek those already vaccinated with the first dose of Sinopharm in the country responds to the fact that with the new income from vaccinations from China, the contracts signed and in force to date with the producing laboratory are considered to be (the vaccine was developed by Chinese pharmaceutical state Sinopharm and the Beijing Institute of Biologics), in addition to the fact that the management of new contracts and possible delivery times has no set date.

In other words, the Ministry of Health has decided that all of the two million doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine from the Sinopharm laboratory that are expected to enter the country in the coming weeks, will be intended to supplement the vaccination schedules already started.

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The health portfolio with the National Vaccination Commission (CONAIM) recommended on March 26 to postpone the application of the second doses of vaccines available in the country. It was argued at the time that the decision was due to the need to “consider the epidemiological situation, the scarcity and global inequity in vaccine distribution, the emergence of variants and the scientific evidence” . It was then decided to postpone the second doses of one of the vaccines currently available in our country. Sputnik V, Covishield / ChadOx-1 and Sinopharm at a minimum interval of 12 weeks from the first dose. However, the measure has now been changed with respect to Sinopharm.

“The decision to postpone was made because of the urgency to provide protection to those most at risk of complications from coronavirus infection, and based on extrapolation of successful single dose studies of AstraZeneca and Janssen. But there were no authentic data on the Sinopharm vaccine ”, said Infobae the president of the Argentine Society of Infectology, Omar Sued. “This decision to administer the second dose of the vaccine between 21 and 28 days will give people vaccinated the assurance that the efficacy will be that reported in the study with Sinopharm (79%) with this scheme,” he said. added.

In February, Sinopharm was used as the first dose for teachers, healthcare workers and people aged 18 to 59 with risky conditions, from the National Administration of Drugs, Food Technologies and Sanitary (ANMAT), who recommended the use of the vaccine. only in children under 60 years old.

On March 25, the Nation’s Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, announced that The ANMAT evaluated the available information and recommended authorizing the emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccine in the group over 60 years of age. Thus, the vaccine began to be used to advance the vaccination of this risk group.. As stated, have been purchased 4 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines for Argentina. One million has already been received and another two million are expected in the coming weeks.

The vaccine Sinopharm was developed by the Beijing Institute of Biologics and it is technically called “BBIBP-CorV”. It works by teaching the immune system to make antibodies against the coronavirus. Antibodies stick to viral proteins. The vaccine was produced from inactivated viruses, an immunization modality that has been used for over a century. Jonas Salk used inactivated viruses to create his polio vaccine in the 1950s, and they are the basis of vaccines against other diseases, such as rabies and hepatitis A.

Applying the vaccine cannot cause COVID-19 disease. Because the viruses used to produce it are dead. The vaccine can be injected into the arm without causing COVID-19. Once inside the body, some of the inactivated viruses are taken up by a type of immune cell called an antigen presenting cell.

As with other vaccines, there is still no absolute certainty about the duration of protection to prevent severe forms and death caused by the COVID-19 disease. The antibody level may decrease over the months. But the immune system also contains memory B and T lymphocytes that could hold information about the coronavirus for years, if not decades. As the most common side effect, in less than 10% of cases it causes pain at the injection site. To a lesser extent, swelling and precipitation on the skin.

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