The CSIC researcher Margaret of the Valley referred this week to vaccines against coronavirusand the need to improve and update them so that they are more effective against the Covid. Likewise, he has pointed out that “there are still no signs that vaccines are failing to protect” of severe disease and mortality, and has revealed when the vaccine should be inoculated fourth dose.
“The best thing is that, if necessary, it be done just before fall winter because it is the moment of greatest risk”, Del Val pointed out.
The virologist has participated this week in the XXI School of Molecular Biology ‘Eladio Viñuela-Margarita Salas’ at the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP), where both she and the researcher Luis Enjuanesdirector of the Coronavirus Laboratory of the National Center for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), have positioned themselves in favor of continuing to adopt measures against the coronavirus, as well as continuing to “update” vaccines, since the virus “will last a long time”.
According to Enjuanes, “the hand has been opened too quickly”and has considered that there was “no need” for the restrictions to be lifted “with the violence” with which, in his opinion, it has been done, allowing public events, concerts or massive football matches and without obligation masks.
However, Enjuanes has recognized that this way of acting has the “advantage” that people are becoming immune naturally (through contagion), he recalled that “there are many people who are affected” by the disease.
The virologist believes that there will continue to be successive waves of Covid and has pointed out that what must be tried is that these have “less height”, for which it is necessary that “people is vaccinated in a more complete and up-to-date way“against new variants and that the effect of the virus will be less and less.
For his part, Del Val considered that “in parallel” to the removal of restrictions, other measures should have been implemented aimed, above all, at protecting the most vulnerable.
Among them, he thinks it should be further enhance treatment with antivirals people at high risk, who are not vaccinated, are not vaccinated or are very old. In his opinion, these treatments are being applied, but “slowly”.
“Better vaccines are still missing”
Both virologists have also defended the need to go improving and updating vaccines against coronavirus. And it is that he considers that although the RNA vaccines were achieved very quickly and have worked well, he believes that “there are still better ones”, that they are bivalent (that is, designed to tackle not only the omicron variant but also the previous one) and not only protect people from serious illness or death, but they are “sterilizing”that is, that those who have administered it do not become infected.
In this sense, Del Val has highlighted that the vaccine being developed by the team led by Luis Enjuanes has that vocation to be sterilizing. “It would be very important because it would not only protect people, but society. If we were all vaccinated with these vaccines a year ago, the situation would be much more normal than it is now,” said the virologist.
Enjuanes explained that the development of this “new generation” vaccine is going “well”is “promising” and is “working at full speed”, but progress is “slow” and it does not venture to give deadlines.
As he explained, we are in a phase of improving results and adapting the production process to the regulations required for everything that is administered. Also, still lacking experimentation in monkeys before human clinical trials.
Del Val has also been congratulated of the work being done by Hypra to develop his vaccine. “I see it as fantastic that there is a vaccine aimed at people that comes out of a Spanish company. It was something that we had to do, that was necessary,” said the virologist.
Although he “would be very happy if he went ahead”, Del Val is cautious. “Until we see it approved, we are not going to sing victory because many things can happen,” he asserted.
The European Medicines Agency is more advanced in its evaluation of the new Moderna’s bivalent vaccinewhich could be ready for the fall, which is precisely the time for Del Val to start administering the fourth dose, but in no case now.
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