VAKCINA

rumbeando wrote:

#SouthAfrica launched its COVID-19 #vaccinationdrive battling to tame a more infectious variant of the #coronavirus with a roll-out of the Johnson & Johnson shot #vaccine #COVID19 #JNJ https://t.co/jLnRr8pqKJ

— The Peninsula Qatar (@PeninsulaQatar) February 17, 2021

Sinovac vaccine works on UK, South African variants - Brazil institute

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech is effective against the UK and South African variants, the vaccine’s Brazilian partner said on Wednesday, citing test results in Chinese trials.

“We have tested this vaccine in China against the English and the South African variants, with good results,” said Dimas Covas, head of the Butantan biomedical center in Sao Paulo which lead domestic trials of the Chinese vaccine and is supplying doses to Brazil’s Health Ministry, the Reuters reported.

Covas did not give any more details on exactly how effective the vaccine proved against these strains.

Butantan is also testing the vaccine, known as CoronaVac, against the Brazilian variant of the virus which appeared in the city of Manaus, he said.

“Soon we will have the results and we are very positive it will do the job,” Covas said.

Covas was speaking at a news conference in the small city of Serrana, in the interior of Sao Paulo state, where Butantan began on Wednesday a mass vaccination campaign aimed at inoculating the entire adult population against COVID-19 to test whether it lowers the infection rate.

Covas said he expects CoronaVac to have an advantage over other vaccines due to the technology it uses - an inactivated version of a coronavirus strain.

The efficacy of the Chinese vaccine against the Brazilian strain in particular will be vital to Brazil. The government has secured 100 million doses and made the vaccine a centerpiece of its inoculation campaign.

Covas’ comments come as several cities in Brazil, including state capitals of Rio, Salvador and Cuiaba have suspended new vaccinations as they ran out of doses.

In response to EU leadership question on why #SputnikV vaccine is offered to EU while vaccination in Russia is not yet complete:

— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) February 17, 2021

2. In the meantime, Russia will supply doses to Hungary and some other EU nations that decided to order Sputnik V directly

— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) February 17, 2021

4. Sputnik V submitted an application for rolling review, request for market authorization is the next step.

— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) February 17, 2021

6. Sputnik V suggests that vaccines should be above and beyond politics. We hope that EU and EMA will evaluate the vaccine on the scientific and not political basis. Sputnik V has already been approved by 29 countries.

— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) February 17, 2021

Sputnik V is offering other vaccine manufacturers one of its components to increase efficacy in fighting mutations. Such studies have started with AstraZeneca and will soon start with a major Chinese vaccine producer.

— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) February 18, 2021

Italian Institute for Infectious Diseases on Sputnik V: "Our conclusion is positive, the efficacy of the vaccine is over 92% and it is absolutely safe. We submitted the Institute’s conclusion to the Health Ministry".
Read more:https://t.co/lWtftwnOgR

— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) February 18, 2021

New York, NY and Mainz, Germany, February 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced results from an in vitro study that provides additional data on the capability of sera from individuals immunized with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (BNT162b2) to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 with the South African variant spike protein. This study, which builds on previous work, was conducted by Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), and results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The current in vitro study investigated the full set of South African variant (also known as B.1.351 lineage) spike mutations. To this aim, three genetically engineered recombinant viruses were produced. One virus had the full set of spike glycoprotein mutations found in the South African variant and the other two had subsets of these mutations. The viruses were tested against a panel of sera from 15 participants in the previously reported Phase 3 trial who had been immunized with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Although the results indicated a reduction in neutralization of virus with all the South African variant spike glycoprotein mutations, all the sera neutralized all the viruses tested. This finding is consistent with recent reports of the neutralization of variant SARS-CoV-2 or corresponding pseudoviruses by convalescent or post-immunization sera.i,ii
There is no clinical evidence to date that the South African variant virus escapes BNT162b2-elicited protection from COVID-19 in vaccinated people. Nevertheless, Pfizer and BioNTech are taking the necessary steps, making the right investments, and engaging in the appropriate conversations with regulators to be in a position to develop and seek authorization for an updated mRNA vaccine or booster once a strain that significantly reduces the protection from the vaccine is identified.
Pfizer and BioNTech are currently evaluating neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 with the Brazilian strain spike mutations, as well as mutations from other emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, and they continue to conduct studies to monitor the vaccine’s real-world effectiveness. Pfizer and BioNTech believe that the flexibility of BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA vaccine platform is well suited to develop new vaccine variants if required.

The #EU has just allocated €7 million in partnership with @WHO to support safe and efficient vaccination across the #WesternBalkans. This complements the €70 million set aside to share vaccines + €850 million donated by to COVAX! #StrongerTogether, #TeamEurope @eu_near

— Genoveva Ruiz Calavera (@CalaveraRuiz) February 18, 2021

What's next for one American nursing home where vaccinations are finished: a little bit of normal life — lunch, games, conversation. “I felt really lost,” a resident said of the previous 11 months. https://t.co/BmVorUFD6s

— NYTimes Well (@nytimeswell) February 18, 2021