The Covid vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca generates a strong immune response among the elderly, the most vulnerable group: what the Financial Times, speaking of the hopes generated by the trials. The clinical trials of this vaccine are in Phase 3, the (final) one that verifies the efficacy and safety of the candidate on thousands of people.
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The good news
Two sources cited by the newspaper as aware of ongoing studies, they argued that the vaccine in question generates antibodies and so-called T lymphocytes (the first line of defense of the immune system) among the elderly. It would be important why usually the immune system of the elderly less reactive, so much so that enhanced vaccines are usually studied specifically for them. The new results are in line with data published in July which showed robust immune responses, in a group of healthy adults aged 18 to 55, generated by the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford. The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of the three optioned by Europe (and therefore by Italy). The Jenner Institute of Oxford University is developing the vaccine in partnership with Irbm (Research Institute of Molecular Biology) of Pomezia: In the Phase 1 trials already published, the vaccine showed an efficacy of 90% which with a booster can reach 95%, declared Piero Di Lorenzo, president of Irbm.
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Approval
The data are preliminary, unpublished and in any case it is necessary to wait for the conclusion of Phase 3. Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency (Ema) has begun to analyze the data provided by the manufacturer to give approval quickly before putting the vaccine on the market. The Oxford vaccine route had suffered a break in September after one adverse reaction of a participant. Studies were then resumed first in Great Britain and later throughout the world (United States, Brazil, South Africa). Regulatory agencies usually take months to examine the documents in detail: there are two types of approval / registration for a vaccine, the classic one, then there is an emergency one. Should the pandemic continue to escalate in late November, approval could also come in a few weeks, which a very short time. If there was an approval for emergency use, then quickly, the vaccine could be registered by January, he told al Health Courier Sergio Abrignani, immunologist, full professor of General Pathology at the State University of Milan and director of the National Institute of Molecular Genetics “Romeo and Enrica Invernizzi”, explaining the process that vaccines now follow (in this case that of Pfizer). Having a vaccine by the end of the year, remember, does not mean that the entire population will be immediately vaccinated. Italy will have a few million doses available for people at risk and health professionals, but to finish the first vaccinations it may take until springtherefore, a winter still to be faced responsibly and carefully.
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October 26, 2020 (change October 26, 2020 | 12:50 pm)
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