On the same day that the Council of Ministers has approved the royal decree that ends the obligation to wear masks in all closed spaces, which means a before and after in the coronavirus pandemic, louis jodarsenior vice president and global medical director of vaccines at the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, has envisioned a scenario in which, depending on the evolution of the omicron variant, it could be necessary to receive an annual dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
This was stated by the director of the pharmaceutical company in the framework of the V Seminar for journalists organized by Pfizer in collaboration with the National Association of Health Informants (ANIS) when World Immunization Week is about to be celebrated, an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) that this year is commemorated from the 24th to the 30th of this month of April.
At the meeting, Jodar established a supposed scenario of the pandemic “between endemic and epidemic” in which the omicron variant, the one that has caused the most infections worldwide, continues to evolve and is necessary prick with booster dose to all age groups At least once a year. They would be, he pointed out, doses that would be adapted to the variant until “the holy grail” is achieved, a safe and effective universal vaccine that works for all mutations.
Immunizations in children 5 to 11
this very weekthe pharmaceutical company and its partner BioNTech have announced the submission of an emergency use authorization application for a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years, after it was shown in a study that it significantly increases antibodies against the omicron variant. The Pfizer manager considered that this third dose in minors may be necessary since “after a certain time the protection decreases. Not so much against severe disease as with the symptomatic“.
He also advanced that Pfizer will announce in “in April or May” data on the effectiveness of its vaccine in children between 6 months and 4 years of age. Next, added Luis Jodar, the company will request authorization from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and, subsequently, from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) .
Regarding the fourth dose of the vaccine against covid, the manager admitted that “there is more controversy.” He recalled that it has been approved in the United States. On April 6, the EMA and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) opened the door to administering that extra puncture also to those over 80 after verifying that it existed increased risk of serious illness in this age group. It was ruled out, however, that this vaccine be extended for now to all population waiting to analyze new reports on its benefits.
Luis Jodar acknowledged that, even after the third dose, there is a reduction in the efficacy of the vaccine, “but it is not so clear in the most severe manifestations of efficacy. It has been seen in Israelabove all, that the fourth dose increases protection against severe illness and death“.
Homogeneous vaccination schedules
Also participating in the meeting Dr. Federico Martinon-Torreshead of the Pediatric Service of the University Clinical Hospital of Santiago de Compostela and Ángel Gil, professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the King Juan Carlos University of Madrid. Both highlighted the importance of vaccination throughout life. In other words, that immunization is not only associated with childhood, but also that adults receive the doses they need of certain vaccines, something that, they explained, sometimes does not happen, or because their doctors do not inform them or because of the population’s own ignorance. Martinón-Torres opted for the “homogenization” of vaccination schedules so that “zip code does not affect vaccinations that we receive.”
For its part, Professor Angel Gilan expert in public health, underlined the need to invest in epidemiological surveillance with more economic resources and the reinforcement of the teams of the different communities because, he pointed out, that “at the moment a vaccine appears, the impact on the disease is awfully big.”
And, on the table, he put some hard data: the annual cost of vaccine-preventable infections in adults over 45 years of age is estimated at 134.1 million euros due to direct and indirect costs, with 44% due to pneumococcal disease, 39.5% due to influenza, 16% to herpes zoster and 0.1% to whooping cough
The teacher added that expenses derived from hospitalization they represent more than half (58.1%), with 77.9 million euros, while those of Primary Care amount to 35.1 million euros and visits to the specialist account for 21.1 million euros. The direct financial burden diseases such as pneumococcal disease, the fluherpes zoster or whooping cough in adults aged 45 or over is high in Spain, so increasing vaccination rates could reduce the economic impact, concluded the teacher.