what Argentina will do after its use in Chile is suspended for men under 45

Fact: AstraZeneca’s vaccine largely saved more lives than it has changed for its serious side effects. These “very rare” blood clots, thrombi or disease which have recently been listed as a new and extremely unusual reaction potentially stemming from the formula developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford.

Another fact (in the region): Chile has just suspended the application of the second doses of this vaccine in men under 45, due to the case of a 35-year-old patient who suffered a thrombosis. Instead, they will receive one from Pfizer.

Between the two data – added to the fact that Italy took the initiative of some of its European neighbors to allow Pfizer or Moderna to be received in a second dose, after the death of an 18-year-old girl as a result of ‘cerebral thrombosis – it is striking that the government has not published, even informally, in an interview, on this subject.

As he could know Bugle, at the National Vaccination Commission (CoNaIn) whether or not to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine for those under 45 “This is not a question that is being analyzed”.

Definitions of who will continue to get stung with AstraZeneca was one of the topics discussed on Tuesday by the Federal Health Council (Cofesa), which is held today at the CCK. There it was decided to follow the European Medicines Agency (EMA) directives, which allows the AstraZeneca vaccine for all ages. This was underlined by Juan Manuel Castelli, Undersecretary for Health Strategies.

A contract for 22.4 million doses was signed with AstraZeneca, and today it is the vaccination flag hoisted by the government. Before it was Sputnik V. But now it is the University of Oxford, which the last few weeks have accelerated the arrival of units. This weekend, the first batches produced in Argentina arrived and were packaged in Mexico.

It is worth remembering the first and second reality data about this drug: AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, and compared to what is happening in other countries, no change in the age or gender of those who should receive it to ensure that safety has not been analyzed yet.

“The incidence is 1 in 100,000 vaccinees where there may be an effect on blood platelets, facilitating some clots or thrombi. The incidence is relatively low but worrying for the person who suffers from it ”, declared Tuesday the Minister of Health of the city, Fernán Quirós.

And he noted that the European Health Agency and ANMAT “continue to validate the vaccine for people over 18, especially because the incidence of an adverse reaction is 1 in 100,000. , But the disease per 100,000 patients causes much more damage”.

When asked about Bugle, from the Buenos Aires portfolio, they confirmed that “there are no definitions of CoNaIn or Nation” as to whether there will be a change in the indication of the age groups that will receive these doses. This Tuesday, in the City the vaccination of the general population was activated from the age of 45 years. In La Pampa, to quote a jurisdiction that in recent weeks has been hit hard by the virus, they will start vaccinating people over 40 with AstraZeneca. In the AMBA, for about two weeks, those who have between 18 and 59 years old with comorbidities.

“The government should say something (about AstraZeneca), because although it is true that they are extremely rare side effects, especially in children under 40-50 years of age, are reported in many countries. And some measures have been taken recently, such as in Italy or Chile. Beyond that in the risk-benefit equation, the risk of serious complications from Covid-19 is much greater than the risk of thrombosis, even among young people, the problem is that most of the vaccines in the country are those of AstraZeneca, or they are Sputnik V, which is also a vaccine with non-replicating adenoviral vectors, very similar to that of AstraZeneca ” , he says. Bugle Adolfo Rubinstein, former Minister of Health of the Nation, doctor of medicine and master in clinical epidemiology.

Rubinstein insists that the Ministry of Health “should at least say something” and that “it is not doing it because, unlike European countries or Chile, where you have vaccines with different technology platforms (like Pfizer , Messenger RNA) here the selection is more limited. “

For Javier Farina, infectologist of the Argentinian Society of Infectious Diseases (SADI), for the moment, there is only noise about AstraZeneca. He rightly says that decisions about who to give it “is a topic that has generated a lot of noise, but there is still no conclusive evidence that the risks outweigh the benefits (for the younger group). . I think that the benefits are greater and that it is necessary to continue to opt for the vaccination», He remarks to this newspaper.

A shipment of more than 930,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, made with the active ingredient produced in Argentina, arrived Monday from the United States, with which the country exceeded the 20 million coronavirus drugs received since December, when he started the National Strategic Plan for Immunization. They are in addition to the 843,600 doses received on May 27, the 2,148,600 arrivals on the 31st and the 811,000 arrivals Saturday evening.