The UK will focus on administering as many people as possible to a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, even if it delays the administration of a second vaccine, the government said on Tuesday, despite a lack of data on the degree of immunity conferred by a single dose.
The news comes as scientists in Europe discuss whether recipients should be given a dose instead of two, given the lack of a vaccine, difficulties in defending a rising winter of infections and a rapidly rising death toll.
Problem: While scientists say that a single dose can provide enough immunity to stop the virus from spreading, there is not enough data to confirm this, as clinical trials for available vaccines and those approaching authorizations have been designed. around a two-dose regimen. .
More about Covid-19 Vaccines
The UK, which is facing severe pressure amid the spread of a new, more infectious variant of the virus, is the first European government to change its policy. He stressed that vaccine recipients will still receive a second dose, just three months later than planned.
Some Canadian provinces have delayed the second dose to inoculate more than one person at a time, and Belgium is considering a similar approach.
“The priority should be to give as many people in risk groups as possible their first dose, rather than providing the two necessary doses in the shortest possible time,” said a spokesman for the department. British health.
A vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc.
and BioNTech SE was the first authorized in the West. It is now being conducted globally after emergency clearances by various regulators, based on a successful one-month study, which involved providing more than 20,000 volunteers with two fires. The second injection was given 21 days after the first.
While the study data show that the vaccine conferred immunity over 50% of participants after the first dose, marketing a single shot would require a new study in which a single dose would be given to another set of volunteers, said BioNTech CEO Uğur Shahin .
“The next generation of the vaccine may be a single dose,” said Dr. Sahin.
As drug manufacturers distribute Covid-19 vaccines, cybersecurity experts warn against the growing threat of manipulation and theft of organized crime networks.
He added that production bottlenecks mean vaccines would not tangibly slow the spread of the virus for months, which means that social restrictions should remain in place.
“We need other vaccine manufacturers to get market approval next year, ideally in the first quarter … We simply need more companies to supply more doses,” said Dr. Sahin.
A vaccine developed by Moderna Inc.,
which was authorized in the US and could be given the green light by the European Union regulator in January, also consists of two doses. A third vaccine, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca PLC and authorized by the UK on Wednesday, has similarly two doses.
Proponents of a single-dose approach say this may be the only way to vaccinate enough people to avoid a new surge in infections next winter, due to limited availability.
EU governments have purchased just enough Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to inoculate 150 million people out of a total population of almost 450 million. This quota will not be fully delivered until the end of next year.
Scientists are working at high speed to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Their ultimate goal: sufficient immunization of the world’s population to achieve herd immunity. (Originally published on July 24, 2020)
Most scientists agree that over 60% of a population should be immunized to obtain herd immunity, in which there are enough immune people, either by vaccination or by contracting the disease, to stop the spread of a pathogen.
In Belgium, Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke called on the country’s vaccine task force to consider whether it should postpone the second vaccine to give the first dose to more people sooner.
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Pierre Van Damme, an elderly member of the working group, said on Monday that using a single blow would allow the vaccination of the majority of Belgium’s 11.5 million inhabitants before the summer. A government spokesman said a decision would be made in the next two weeks.
In the UK, Professor David Salisbury, formerly responsible for the country’s immunization program, campaigned to delay the second blow until all high-risk people received the first dose. After two weeks of declining infections, new cases have risen sharply in the UK since early December.
On December 22, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the Independent that the continuation of the previously planned program of the second coup would lead to “colossal” damage in terms of infection rates, deaths and economic impact.
Write to Bojan Pancevski at [email protected]
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