Córdoba runs out of vaccines and hopes the Nation will send more

The province has placed, to date, 8,880 of the 10,800 vaccines received by Cordoba. In this way, today the first doses would be used up and the campaign will be put on hold until the other 11,100 doses planned for our province are received.

Yesterday, on the sixth day of vaccination, 1,263 people were vaccinated. Only 1920 are available. The second batch would arrive at the end of this week or the start of the next.

In this first step, it was decided to vaccinate healthcare personnel who are in close contact with patients with Covid-19. This includes doctors, nurses, orderlies, physiotherapists, and cleaning staff, among others. In this group, there would be around 19,500 people.

To be vaccinated, staff can make an appointment on 0800-122-1444 (option 4) or via the web (https://vacunacioncovid19.cba.gov.ar), then go to the corresponding vaccination center.

In the capital, it is administered at the Cordoba Convention Center and there are 24 vaccinations in public hospitals in the interior.

The rest of the health workforce, some 66,000 people, follows as a priority. Then it will continue for over 70 years. But Sputnik V has not yet been approved for the elderly by the National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (Anmat).

More doses

There is no specific date when the second batch would arrive. The Nation’s promise is that she would be there this Monday. But from the provincial government, they assured that they expected it by the end of this week or the beginning of the next.

It is also not known when the second dose will arrive for people who have already been vaccinated. It should be remembered that Sputnik V requires two injections 21 days apart, according to the scheme tested in clinical trials.

But, unlike those developed by Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, Russian is made up of two different formulations.

The national government also promised that a larger shipment of Sputnik V would arrive in January. This information was confirmed a few days ago by the Russian Fund for Direct Investments, which is responsible for negotiations in other countries.

The first 300,000 doses received were manufactured in Russia. But the rest of the 20 million the country has committed will be produced in India, China, South Korea or Brazil.

Side effects

From the province, they reported that no serious adverse effects had been detected among the vaccinated Cordobans. A Federal Register of Nominal Vaccination (Nomivac) report on the first 32,000 vaccinated, indicated that only one percent exhibited adverse effects.

There are 317 cases, 80% of which have had fever, headache or muscle pain, as single or combined symptoms. Vaccinated people should wait 30 minutes before discharge to monitor them for a serious allergic reaction.

In view of the shortage, some countries are analyzing the administration of a single dose, but to more people

Given the lack of vaccines and the escalating pandemic in Europe, the United States, authorities and scientists are setting more elastic vaccination schedules so that more people can be vaccinated. The UK approved the AstraZeneca vaccine a few days ago and started applying it yesterday. But with a different scheme from that tested in clinical trials. Instead of a four week interval between doses, he extended it to 12 weeks. He also decided that the vaccines could be mixed. In other words, the volunteer can receive one dose of vaccine A and the second from B. England yesterday announced strict confinement until mid-February with the closure of schools. Additionally, all non-essential stores and personal care services, such as hair salons, will be closed and restaurants will only be able to offer take-out. Meanwhile, the United States is analyzing the application of a half-dose of Moderna’s vaccine. “We know that it induces an identical immune response,” said Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the federal vaccination program. For the moment, Argentina does not receive doses of Sputnik V in quantity to analyze this strategy. In addition, this formulation has a drawback: the first and second doses are different. Therefore, the second set of doses could not be used as the first injection in other people. However, it is not known how effective a single dose of Sputnik V would be. Researchers at the Gamaleya Center did not design clinical trials to find this information. Neither do other manufacturers, but you can get clues by looking at the raw data. It is estimated that a single dose of the Pfizer and Moderna formulations would have between 80 and 90 percent protection. AstraZeneca has reported an efficiency of 64%. The duration of this protection is unknown. A few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Poutine slipped the idea of ​​creating a “light” Sputnik V. “We have the ability to create a ‘light’ vaccine by administering a single inoculation. It will be effective for a shorter period of time, the level of protection will be lower, but the effectiveness will still reach 85%, ”he said.