All communities agree that those over 80 must be protected against a coronavirus that continues to threaten. And for this the only solution today is to put the fourth dose of the vaccine. But, nevertheless, they do not agree on when it should be done. While Asturias, Galicia and Andalusia ask that this new booster dose be put on, others like Madrid ask to wait until September.
This is one of the points that is being debated in the Public Health commission that is meeting today (in the morning, with the Alerts and Surveillance Reports) and it seems that it will continue to be debated in the next meetings. Because, like all the aspects to study in the management of the pandemic, “nothing is black or white. There are a thousand nuances, thousands of elements to analyze, thousands of studies to carry out and review,” point out sources from the commission, made up of those responsible for public health from the Ministry and from the communities.
The incidence of cases in those over 80 continues to grow and is already above 1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants
The reality is that the incidence of cases in those over 60, but especially in those over 80, continues to grow. At this time, the average incidence in the elderly exceeds 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and hospital admissions and deaths are mainly focused on this age group.
Araceli was the first woman to receive the coronavirus vaccine
But if it is put in at this time, it would be necessary to inject the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer or Moderna) and some studies suggest that the combination of vaccines is more effective. For this reason, some officials advocate waiting for the summer, when it is expected to be approved and on the market the Spanish Hipra.
The Minister of Science on Hipra: “It is a better vaccine than the ones we have inoculated”
As explained by the Minister of Science, Diana Morant, Hipra is finishing the last phase of the clinical trial and, when it is finished, it will transfer the results to the European regulatory agency: “If the EMA approves the vaccine, we would be able to market it in June,” he said.
Production of the Hipra vaccine at the Amer factory
The minister stressed that this vaccine has achieved “very good” clinical and preclinical results, it is safer and also more effective in the immune response, not only with respect to covid-19 but also against the most recent variants such as the omicron.
The new lineages of the omicron 4 and 5 are being studied
“It is a better vaccine than the ones we have inoculated”, which does not need to be frozen, which greatly facilitates logistics, and it is also a recombinant protein vaccine that can be adapted in the future, according to the different variants that arise , summarized.
Another of the arguments that are being heard this morning refers to the appearance (and extension) of the subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of the omicron which appear to be associated with a resurgence of infections in South Africa. It is already in many European countries, including Spain (specifically, it has been detected in Madrid and Asturias).
While waiting for all these issues to be clarified and for the technicians to evaluate the latest data, most public health officials prefer to wait to inoculate those over 80 with the fourth dose, according to the aforementioned sources.
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