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The first coronavirus vaccines, conducted around the world, raised hopes for a breakthrough in the fight against COVID-19, but experts now raise a more optimistic outlook: People may not need as a single dose instead of the current two-dose regimen.
But the idea sparked scientific controversy, with experts saying there wasn’t enough evidence yet to justify one dose and people should plan to receive two.
Opinions in favor of exploring the single-dose vaccine idea were crystallized in a recent New York Times opinion piece by Michael Mina, a Harvard immunologist, and Zainab Tawfiqi, a widely-written sociologist. on the epidemic.
They called for a new clinical trial to begin immediately to investigate whether a single dose of the vaccine is sufficient. They cited data from previous trials with Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which showed that protection began after the first dose, with an effectiveness of up to about 90%, compared to about 95% after two doses.
However, questions were raised about how long the protection would last without the second booster dose, but Mina and Tawfiqi wrote that the possibility of needing a single dose should be investigated immediately.
“If that turns out to be the case, it would be a game-changer, allowing us to immunize up to twice the number of people and significantly alleviate suffering not only in the United States, but also in countries with shortages of vaccines can take up to 2 “, according to the article. Years to solve. “
However, part of the question remains how effective it is to go ahead with one dose instead of two, even though the single dose regimen will extend protection to twice the number of people to be taken. a time when an average of 2,500 Americans die from the virus each day, especially since vaccines are not on track. Be widely available for several months.
“What can we do now so that we don’t have 60,000 deaths in a month?” Says Christopher Gill, professor of global health at the School of Public Health at Boston University. He replied: There should be at least a discussion of immediately vaccinating twice as many people with a single dose without waiting for another trial. If you wait, you might be dead. “
Scott Gottlieb, former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), questioned the administration’s strategy of reserving half of the doses to ensure there are enough for everyone to receive his second dose, since in the worst case a single dose is still at least partially good.
Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary Brett Gerwier said the administration is reserving 2.9 million doses to serve as a second dose for the 2.9 million people vaccinated in the first week rather than spilling all the doses at the same time.
Gottlieb, now a Pfizer board member, said on CNBC earlier this month. “We know that the first dose is partially preventative and the data is not available at the moment, so you want to try pushing as many doses as possible to give as many of the benefits as possible. “
Other experts, including those from the Operation Warp Speed team and the FDA, oppose those proposing a single dose instead of two, indicating that months of in-depth study of the two-dose regimen were conducted.
“The second dose is an integral part of the vaccine if the vaccines are approved,” Moncef Al-Salawi, Warp Speed’s chief scientific adviser, told a press conference. It boosts patients’ immunity to COVID-19, and it’s data that shows long-term immunity and I expect it to be long-lasting, so people shouldn’t take the vaccine in a single dose. “
However, the door has been left open for further study. And one might wonder why the single dose trials of Moderna or Pfizer aren’t being done? It will be a valid question and of course the timing will be quite difficult.
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