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The speed of the launch of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign can surprise and sometimes even worry. Were vaccines developed too quickly before they hit the market? Response elements.
It is in early January 2021 that the first vaccines against Covid-19 will be available. Residents of nursing homes and staff will be the first to be vaccinated in France on a voluntary basis, according to the recommendations of the High Authority for Health. Less than a year after the virus arrives in Europe, it is therefore possible to administer a vaccine. A speed that can surprise and sometimes even make you suspicious.
A vaccine developed rapidly
So this vaccine will be on the market too quickly? “There has been a lot of money mobilized from different laboratories, a lot of motivations but all the studies have been done”, explains epidemiologist Martin Blachier. The different phases of a vaccine were observed. “There are no objective reasons to be concerned.” Ten days ago, however, scientists expressed their fears of seeing a vaccine coming to market very quickly, such as the head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at La Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris Eric Caumes or the epidemiologist Catherine Hill.
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No unknown side effects
The first two vaccines available, produced by Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna laboratories, have passed phase 3, which studies efficacy and tolerance in several thousand people. “Out of 70,000 people tested, there was not a single side effect apart from the classic effects of a vaccine, redness around the injection site, some fever, fatigue, which is called reactogenic reactions,” explains Dr. Blachier. “If a possible side effect were to appear, it would affect less than one in 70,000 people.” And the epidemiologist recalls: “In all existing vaccines, we have never had a disease that appeared long after, more than six months after the injection.”
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A new type of vaccine
The vaccine used against Covid-19, of the RNA (ribonucleic acid) type, is completely new and this is what can be scary. “The vaccine will consist of injecting RNA. It’s a small piece of material derived from the genetic code to make proteins. It’s viral genetic material.” Here too Martin Blachier wants to be reassuring: “It cannot enter our genetic heritage. It is a material that will degrade very quickly in our body”. Two injections will be needed.
Recently, labs have multiplied the effects of ads on the effectiveness of their upcoming vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna advanced the 95% efficiency figure. “It’s unheard of for a vaccine,” comments Martin Blachier. The effectiveness rate of the AstraZenecca vaccine, which will be a conventional vaccine, is below 70%. The French vaccine project, developed by Sanofi, is still in phase 2 of clinical trials.
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In the United States, the regulatory body, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), plans to communicate on December 17. For its part, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) must meet on December 29 to give the green light or not to the marketing of vaccines.
What vaccination schedule?
Jean Castex and Olivier Véran will detail the vaccination campaign at a press conference this Thursday evening. The Alta Autorité de santé has recommended that elderly residents in nursing homes be vaccinated “upon arrival of the first doses” of the vaccine, estimated as of January 2021. 75,000 people currently live in nursing homes in France. The staff of these facilities will also be among the priority French.
Secondly, from April 2021, people over the age of 75, but also 65-74 years with comorbidities and professionals in the health, socio-medical and medical transport sectors. 50 years with a risk factor will be able to access to the vaccine. The third phase will be reserved for over 50s with comorbidities and for all caregivers. In phase 4 the vaccination will concern the most exposed professions and people in precariousness. The last phase will concern all French people over the age of 18.
The Covid-19 vaccine will not be mandatory.
The French and the vaccine
59% of French people do not intend to be vaccinated against Covid-19, an Ifop poll has indicated /JDD appeared last Sunday. A week earlier, six out of ten Frenchmen said they were ready to be vaccinated, according to a BVA survey for Europe 1, released on November 23. “There are fears related to the vaccine design conditions, and in particular that the vaccine was established in record time. Seven out of ten tell us that it was conceived too quickly,” the director of BVA Adélaïde Zulfikarpasic. One of the main fears of the respondents is that they may experience possible side effects. The youngest are the least likely to be vaccinated, the over 65s are predominantly in favor.
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