The government has confirmed that no more vaccines will come from Covishield: what will happen to people waiting for the second dose?

Foreign Minister Felipe Solá confirmed on Thursday that India would not comply with the shipment of 580,000 vaccines against the coronavirus manufactured by Covishield to which it had informally committed months ago in dialogue with the Argentine authorities.

“India has seen a dramatic growth in infections and withheld all vaccines produced. The ambassador came to explain it to me. He told me that they had an impressive stock, but that they needed it to give a strong impetus to the local vaccination campaign, ”the foreign minister said in a report for El Uncover radio.

Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic in the Asian country, where they register a record number of more than 370,000 daily cases (more than a third of the world total) It’s “heartbreaking”, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), said yesterday at a press conference to ask for help in the Asian country where 1.3 billion people live.

The decision to halt the export of inoculants raised a question mark in Argentina. It is because the committed doses – which for the moment will not arrive – were going to be used to complete the vaccination schedule of people vaccinated at the end of February and which should be recalled before the end of May according to the postponement regime approved by the Federal Committee. of health.

Is it possible to replace the second dose with another vaccine?

“The vaccine that comes from India is Covishield, which is the same one made by AstraZeneca. It’s a different brand, but the technology is the same. There should be no inconvenience in applying the second dose“Said the doctor consulted by this means Lautaro de Vedia.

The doctor and head of the infantile infectology department, Enrique Casanueva, agreed: “I’m not aware of any published interchangeability work, but if one relies on other vaccines like hepatitis, it could theoretically work, especially with similar platform vaccines.“.

The problem with this solution is that AstraZeneca has also shown difficulties in honoring its commitments with the Argentine government. In fact, the laboratory recently issued a statement to respond to the unease of some authorities.

The specialists consulted agree that It would not be advisable to use vaccines from Sputnik, Pfizer or any other laboratory to supplement Covishield’s vaccination schedule as they use different technologies.. “There is no study to back it up; it would be dangerous or ineffective. It has no scientific endorsement. The vaccines are formulated on different platforms. I don’t recommend it, ”De Vedia said.

Indian vaccine

The Covishield vaccine is a variant of the one manufactured by AstraZeneca and Oxford, which is produced at the Serum Institute in India from a collaboration agreement as part of a technology transfer between the Anglo-Swedish laboratory and the British university .

At the end of December, the National Administration of Drugs, Foods and Medical Technologies (ANMAT) validated the emergency use of the vacuum cleanernota AZD1222 of Oxford / AstraZeneca in two doses. This vaccine, the first created against SARS-COV-2 in the world after the outbreak of the pandemic, it is used to active immunization of people over 18 years of age with two doses given 4 to 12 weeks apart, as initially recommended by the UK Regulatory Agency (MHRA) when authorized as an emergency power supply.

To do this, he assured that phase III clinical trials have shown that this regimen is safe and effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, without serious cases or hospitalizations for more than 14 days. after the second dose, which provides 82% protection.

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