To whom and under what strategies will Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines be applied in Argentina

The COVID-19 messenger RNA vaccine developed by the companies Pfizer of the United States and BioNTech of Germany is the first inoculant approved for people over 16 years of age by the drug regulatory agency, the FDA. In agreement with the Nation’s Ministry of Health, Argentina would receive 20 million doses for the rest of the year. 100,620 doses of the messenger RNA vaccine have already arrived, and will be intended for different groups depending on the decision of the health authorities in each jurisdiction. In the case of the city of Buenos Aires, it will soon begin to be applied as a second dose for those who have already received component 1 of the Sputnik V vaccine.

Each dose of a messenger RNA vaccine is made with material from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, which asks cells to create a harmless protein that is unique to the virus. In the various clinical trials that were evaluated before its authorization and then its approval in the United States, and in other countries where it has been applied, such as Israel, IThe Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was very safe and effective in protecting the person from infection and reducing the risk of complications and death from exposure to the coronavirus.

The first batch of messenger RNA vaccines arrived in Argentina on September 8. During the press conference on arrival, the Minister of Health of the Nation, Carla Vizzotti, informed that these doses will be intended for “adolescents at prevalence and to supplement the second dose to those who have received Sputnik V”.

“It is important to specify that depending on the progress of vaccination in the provinces, from this month and continuing in October with the arrival of a greater number of doses, it is possible, before the end of the year, to move forward with the teenagers. between 12 and 17 years old universally, which makes a total of 5 million ”, specified Dr. Vizzotti with the arrival of the doses Pfizer / BioNTech.

Even Argentina’s 24 jurisdictions have not announced the exact destination of the doses of RNA vaccine they will receive. But some of them have already reported finding their destination. In the case of the city of Buenos Aires, which received 7,000 doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines, the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health, headed by Fernán Quirós, has already decided that they will soon be applied as a second dose in adults who had received the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya Institute of Russia.

In the province of Buenos Aires, there is still no final decision, but it is planned to apply the doses of Pfizer / BioNTech in adolescents without risk factors. Since last August, Modern Company’s vaccines have been applied to adolescents with risk factors across the country. In the provinces of Mendoza and Cordoba, the exact destination of the doses has not yet been announced.

In the city of Buenos Aires and other jurisdictions, the exchange of Sputnik V vaccines with another messenger RNA vaccine had already been carried out, that of Moderna, which was donated by the United States government to Argentina. In a pre-application clinical trial as part of the plan, it was found that antibody levels tripled for people who received Sputnik V vaccine component 1 and Moderna vaccine as a second dose.

Regarding the quantity of doses, the government of Buenos Aires received 7,000 doses of Pfizer from the batch that arrived in the country. As for those who will be able to obtain them, it will be those in Buenos Aires which have expired twelve weeks since they were inoculated with the vaccine of Russian origin.

As for the decision of the City’s Ministry of Health to combine the doses of Pfizer with those of Sputnik V, it is because the first were made with messenger RNA technology, like that of Moderna which is already in use. to override the second component. those produced by the Gamaleya Institute.

Vaccineshe North American science partnership Pfizer and German Biontech are approved for use in adolescents, so jurisdictions may consider such a strategy. So far, CABA’s decision has been to grant them full coronavirus vaccination schedules.

Regarding the acquired doses of Pfizer / BioNTech inoculants, Vizzotti underlined: “These vaccines, as we agree with the National Vaccination Commission (CoNaIn), the experts and the Federal Health Council (COFESA) they will be used to initiate vaccination schedules for adolescents without comorbidities in a universal way, starting with those of 17 years old, or, depending on the provincial plans, to supplement the vaccination schedules ”.

After the arrival of the charge d’affaires of the Embassy of the United States, MaryKay Carlson estimated that “this will generate a great impact on the vaccination of the Argentine people”, and stressed that “the United States and the ‘Argentina are partners and we will continue to work together to fight this pandemic ”. As, Pfizer Argentina Managing Director Nicolás Vaquer said it was “a very proud day, we have done our utmost to develop an effective and safe vaccine”, while thanking the Minister and the Argentine Government teams for their collaborative work.

In all, Argentina expects the delivery of 20.5 million doses of the RNA vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech during this year. For the month of September, the arrival of 580,000 doses of Pfizer is expected, with the following schedule: 160,290 for September 15, another 160,290 for September 22 and the remaining 158,800 for September 29, as reported by the Nation’s Department of Health. Additionally, in October, November and December, the remaining 19.5 million doses of Pfizer vaccine from this year’s contract will be received.

Doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine involve different storage conditions. According to the Health portfolio, after his arrival, “They are packaged and distributed, in this case with the particularity below 70 degrees. Their special diluents and vaccines are also arriving in jurisdictions in a first delivery ”which began yesterday Monday.

As has been done with the other vaccines that have been integrated into the COVID-19 vaccination plan in Argentina, the Ministry of Health will include the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in the interchangeability study. It will be used to assess the efficacy and safety of this vaccine in combination with others developed on different platforms.

Messenger RNA vaccines like Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna do not contain live viruses. Instead, these vaccines teach cells to make a harmless part of the “Spike protein”. which is present on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. After producing it, cells show this part of the protein created on their surface, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The immune system recognizes that the protein is a foreign body and begins to generate an immune response to get rid of it.. When the immune response begins to occur, antibodies are created that trigger the same response produced by a natural infection.

Pediatric vaccines, the debate continues

The need to include adolescents and children to be vaccinated against COVID-19 has been reinforced by the vulnerability of the youngest who suffer from co-morbidities and because the vaccination of minors, both healthy and sick, It would allow, according to the experts, to stop the wave of infections which have increased exponentially, especially at present in countries where the Delta variant is circulating in the community.

The global debate on whether or not to vaccinate pediatrics synthesizes several ideas and is not yet settled, the vast majority of children and adolescents who go through the disease do so mildly or asymptomatically. Very few are complicated; It is important to keep in mind that the more people of other ages are vaccinated, children and adolescents may become reservoirs of the virus.

As he advanced in dialogue with Infobae, Rodrigo Sini de Almeida, Pfizer’s Director of Vaccine Medical Affairs for Latin America, between late 2021 and early 2022, Pfizer’s “ultra-pediatric vaccine” will be available from 11 years to 6 months – also from the Delivery Mail of the ARN- platform.

“Today, we know that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and can prevent disease. The first fundamental that we must emphasize is that you must protect yourself, even if you have less risk than the others. Ultimately, the vaccination of children and adolescents will have a positive impact in terms of collective protection, more people will be vaccinated, this will decrease the transmissibility of the virus and all of its expanding characteristics that we are examining today.Sini de Almeida concluded.

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