Two years have passed since the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic to Europe and the confinement in the homes of the Spanish population and other neighboring countries. In this time, the pharmaceutical industry has been able to break all its records by having an arsenal of 33 vaccines and various treatments. Laboratories have already passed the 12.1 billion doses manufactured until February, according to data from Ifpma, the world pharmaceutical employers. Although these figures represent almost two injections per person, the reality is that the distribution is not equitable. The challenge that health authorities and companies are facing is the distribution barrier in Africa.
John Nkengasong, director of the African Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Africa CDC), summarized a few days ago in an interview what is the problem of the countries of the continent to extend vaccination: the main challenge to vaccinate Africa is no longer the shortage of supplies, but the logistical challenges and doubts of the population regarding these products, especially among the youngest. And, for that reason, he came to request that donations to that region of the globe be stopped.
The European pharmaceutical employers, Efpia, recalls that in areas such as Portugal vaccination has reached 95%, compared to African countries such as Nigeria where the administration of punctures remains at 7%. In fact, from Efpia it is pointed out that with the ultimate goal of vaccinating as many citizens as possible, “it is essential to strengthen the various capacities of the health care system in Africa in the immediate future”.
Initially, Western countries monopolized the doses, but the fundamental problem now in Africa is the distribution of vaccines, especially messenger RNA vaccines that must be kept frozen, the lack of minimally powerful health systems and the shortage of all kinds of supplies, for example from the syringes themselves.
“Equally important is sharing clear information to increase confidence in vaccines”, among the population, Efpia points out.
For this reason, Nkengasong has opened the debate to stop the flow of donations to Africa. “That’s not to say donations aren’t important,” he says. “It is just to say that we do not do it at once” so as not to waste those that expire.
According to Africa CDC data as of March 9, the continent 692 million doses have arrived, of which only 62% have been administered. The percentage of the population with the complete guideline remains at 12.95%. Morocco leads these plans, with 63% of its inhabitants vaccinated, followed far behind by Egypt with 30%. In most countries, injections are almost anecdotal, even with strong delays in South Africa (29% of the population), being one of the main economies in the region. The industry, through Ifpma, has asked to redouble support for the health systems of countries with fewer resources so that they can carry out vaccination plans among the population.
globally
Currently, the number of doses produced (12.1 billion) exceeds the number administered (9.2 billion) globally, according to Efpia data. By now, manufacturing (which started in early 2021 with huge bottlenecks) is no longer an issue.
By June, the pharmaceutical industry will have produced 7,717 million doses, according to data provided by the British specialized consultant Airfinity to this newspaper at the end of January. The manufacturing figure in 2022 will reach 18,600 million, 166% more than a year ago. With that amount, it would be more than enough to apply two doses to the entire world population this year.
As the Spanish employers Farmaindustria advanced this Friday, this high production capacity – until before the pandemic around 4,000 million doses of all types of vaccines were manufactured in the world – is due to alliances between pharmaceutical companies. These are different agreements, such as technology transfer and manufacturing. “Nearly 370 collaboration agreements have already been counted, involving almost a hundred companies, many of them competitors”, they affirm from Farmaindustria.
The producers
70% of the vaccines that will be distributed in the world in 2022 will come from four companies. The consortium formed by Pfizer and BioNTech will produce 1,922 million doses until June, which means that it will manufacture around 24.9% of all vaccines, according to data from Airfinity.
It is followed by the Chinese Sinopharm, with 1,200 million doses until the middle of the year. After her, the version of AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford appears, with 1,085 million. In this case, the British company has partners such as India’s Serum for production. Finally, as a very prominent company is the Chinese Sinovac, which will market around 1,060 million doses.
In Africa, unlike Europe or the US, the Chinese Sinopharm version or the Russian Sputnik V have had a presence, especially the Chinese alternative. Likewise, AstraZeneca has played a leading role, thanks to the fact that the British company produces it at a low cost (non-profit while the pandemic lasts) and it is easy to distribute while maintaining the cold of a conventional refrigerator.
Some of these companies are making efforts to produce in Africa to facilitate distribution. Moderna, for example, announced this week that it will install its first plant in Kenya, with a capacity for 500 million doses per year.
Extension of the Hipra studio
The Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps) reported this Friday that the Girona pharmaceutical company Hipra will carry out an extension of the clinical trial of its vaccine as a reinforcement, in this particular case for those vaccinated with the AstraZeneca version, as advanced this diary on Monday.
The Aemps specifies that the study of the Spanish vaccine must recruit 300 volunteers who have already received the complete guideline and have not passed Covid-19. The intention is to have more efficacy data on the Hipra booster injection, as the number of participants in the AstraZeneca case was small.
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