Updates to vaccine companies: Pfizer's vaccine approval in the European Union as well; EU drug regulator says vaccine is also effective on new strains found in Britain

Posted on 22nd Dec 2020 by rohit kumar

The vaccine rush to protect against coronavirus has reached the finish line. Russia has given emergency approval to two and China to four vaccines. Along with this, the vaccines of American company Pfizer and Moderna have also got emergency approval. With Pfizer's vaccine, the process of vaccination has started in many countries. Scientists are facing new concerns due to the new strain of coronavirus found in Britain. However, the European Union has approved the Pfizer vaccine. Also, the drug regulator said that no evidence has been found that Pfizer's vaccine is ineffective on the new strain. On the other hand, the approval process of vaccine has also started in India.

 

Even though 8 vaccines have received emergency approval/approval, so far only four companies have declared their phase-3 results. Their vaccine is said to be 90% or more effective. It is the effectiveness rate that becomes the basis for approving a vaccine. Let's understand what it is and how it is extracted ...

 

How is the vaccine affixed?

 

It is a long and complicated process. If the researcher trials a vaccine, then half of the people involved apply the vaccine and half of the people give a placebo.

 

Volunteers are then monitored for a few months and during this time there are separate investigations. Blood tests see whether antibodies have developed in the body. Awaits how many people from which group are positive for the virus.

 

In Pfizer's case, the company dodged 44 thousand Volunteers. Over a few months of monitoring, 170 people were found to be corona positive. Of these 162 people were given a placebo, while 8 people were from the vaccine group.

 

Based on these numbers, Pfizer's researchers performed calculations. The group which did not get the vaccine received more positive patients. Similarly, positive patients were less in the vaccine group. This led to the removal of the affixes.

 

According to scientists, the difference between people who got sick after getting vaccinated and those who got sick without vaccine is affixes. If no difference was found between the two groups, then the Efficacy would have been 0. At the same time, if someone were not sick from the vaccine group, then the Efficient would have been 100%

 

A 90% or more efficacy means that the vaccine is working well. But this number does not tell you how much you are likely to get sick if you apply the vaccine. For this reason, it cannot be said that after the introduction of the vaccine, Covid-19 will be finished worldwide.

 

Know what is the status of the vaccine of which company/organization?

 

1. Oxford University / AstraZeneca (UK)

 

The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine (CoveShield) is up to 90% effective in the third phase trial. By the last week of February, at least 100 million doses of Coveyshield will be ready.

 

Adar Poonawala, CEO of Serum Institute of India, the world's leading vaccine production company, said that 40 lakh doses have been prepared so far and the central government is ready to buy it for Rs 250. Poonawala said that in the private market, a dose of Covishield will be available for 500 to 600 rupees. This will also benefit distributors.

 

SII has sought emergency approval for Coveshield in India on 7 December. If it is approved, then vaccination can be started in India by January.

 

2. Pfizer and Bioentech (US)

 

American Pharma company Pfizer and German Corona vaccine joint Corona vaccine has proved to be 95% effective in Phase-3 trial. According to the company, the vaccine worked well for older people. It also did not show any serious side effects. Pfizer is set to make 5 million doses of the vaccine by December. The UK has first given emergency approval to this vaccine. The company has subsequently stepped up efforts for emergency approval in many countries including India.

 

It is not known when India's decision will be made, but the company has also received permission from the US, UAE, Canada, and Bahrain for its vaccine. Some people in the UK have been issued an alert regarding this due to allergies. About 44 thousand people were involved in Pfizer's Phase-3 trial. Of these, 170 people were found to be corona positive. Among them, 162 patients were given a placebo instead of the vaccine.

 

3. Moderna (America)

 

US-based biotech company Moderna has claimed that the vaccine it produces is 94.5% effective in protecting Corona patients. This claim has been made based on the results of the last stage clinical trial. The special thing is that this vaccine can be safe for 30 days in 2 to 8 degrees Celsius temperature.

 

The company said that Phase-3 trials involved more than 30,000 people in the US. Of these, more than 65 were from high-risk conditions and different communities. The company's chief executive, Stephen Bansell, described the success as an important moment in the development of the vaccine. The company had been working on it since early January.

 

In the US, the vaccine received emergency approval on 19 December. Apart from this, the company has demanded emergency approval in many countries including Britain, European Union. After US approval, the company's vaccine is expected to be approved in other countries soon.

 

4. Gamalaya Research Institute (Russia)

 

The Russian-made vaccine has proven to be 95% effective in fighting corona during the Sputnik V trial. This is revealed in the second preliminary analysis of the clinical trial. 28 days after the first dose, this vaccine showed 91.4% efficacy. 42 days after the first dose, it increased to 95%. The Gamalaya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, which makes the vaccine, has claimed this.

 

Two doses of the vaccine were given to 18,794 other patients besides 39 infected. This drug will be available for free in Russia. For other countries of the world, its price will be less than 700 rupees. Russia has tied up with partners of other countries to make vaccines for more than 500 million people in 2021. The Russian body has an agreement with Dr. Reddy's Laboratory and Phase-2/3 Combined Trials have started in India.