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At a time when there is a lot of talk about the Covid-19 vaccine, after the presentation of the 90% efficacy results from Pfizer, there are many questions that arise in the general population, from the safety level of the drug at the moment it could take a some time to return to normal.
A team of experts, listened to by the British newspaper “The Guardian”, answers some of these questions and is committed to clarifying any doubts.
How do we know there will be no long-term side effects?
Vaccines are licensed on the basis of data from clinical trials, which aim to assess their short-term safety, as well as the ability to generate an immune response and prevent disease in hundreds and then thousands of volunteers. So far, the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has been administered to more than 43,538 people, the first of whom received the vaccine in April or May. So far, it appears to be well tolerated.
It’s also important to note that most adverse events occur soon after receiving the vaccine, rather than after many months or years, says Robin Shattock, director of infection and immunity at Imperial College London.
Will the vaccine be safe for people with associated medical conditions?
People with associated health problems are likely to be closely monitored when a vaccine is approved and launched. Additionally, if there is reason to suspect that a particular population may be adversely affected by a vaccine, regulators may request a substudy to evaluate safety in this group, before allowing it to be more widely administered to people with this condition.
Will the vaccine really allow us to return to normal and in how long?
Even with a vaccine, society is unlikely to return to normal overnight. “It will be a gradual process, and my estimate is that it will take at least until the summer for any degree of normalcy to resume,” Shattock said.
“As more people are being vaccinated, we may be able to start normalizing life because there will be fewer people with serious illnesses, fewer people in need of intensive care, and because those who need it will get better quality care. “, he added.
Should those who have already been infected also be vaccinated?
So far, vaccine testing has focused on people who have not been exposed to the coronavirus, so the effect of vaccination on people who have been exposed is not yet clear. However, since immunity to the virus appears to decline over time, it would probably be worth getting vaccinated.
“The level of immunity from natural infection is highly variable, which means that some people get a very strong immune response and others get a very weak immune response,” says Shattock. “The vaccine would boost your immune response and hopefully offer longer protection,” he said.
Where is the infrastructure needed to transport and store vaccines at the right temperature?
Transporting, storing and administering the vaccine will not be easy, but the infrastructure is being implemented. Pfizer has designed suitcase-sized shipping containers capable of holding 1,000 to 1,500 doses at the required temperature for up to ten days, while being transported to local or regional storage facilities, such as hospitals.
From there they will likely be transported to labs for immediate use and the vaccine remains viable for approximately 24 hours after leaving the freezer. Also, it is important to remember that many other vaccines are in development that do not require ultracold storage like Pfizer’s, so we are unlikely to depend solely on this vaccine.
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