Within a week, the FDA has issued emergency authors for both Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Here are some key questions and answers about the historic U.S. vaccination program:
How is the vaccines work?
Both Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are mRNA vaccines that are injected into the muscles of the upper arm. They represent a new form of vaccine technology: using messenger RNA, they direct our cells to produce proteins that stimulate an immune response.
The mRNA vaccines direct our cells to detect “spike proteins,” which are found on the surface of the Sars-CoV-2 virus. When our immune system realizes that this protein does not belong, it begins to make antibodies. During this process, it learns how to deal with exposure to the virus in the future.
To be effective, two doses are required. For Pfizer, the second dose is 21 days after the first, and for Moderna, 28. In clinical trials, the vaccines were found to offer protection against Covid-19, but it is not yet known. how long that protection lasts. Importantly, these defenses do not begin until about a week after the second dose. Only people with a history of severe allergic reactions have been discouraged from receiving the vaccines.
Although both vaccines prevent 95% of Covid-19 cases, people with vaccines can still become infected and spread the virus to others. It will be important to maintain protective measures before and after immunization.
What vaccines are currently available?
While only the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have received emergency licenses in the U.S. so far, many other manufacturers are working to bring vaccines to market.
According to data compiled by the London School of Vaccination Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Center, there are more than 200 vaccines at various stages of development and testing worldwide, with a dozen in the final phase of clinical trials. Other well-known manufacturers with contracts with the US include Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, Oxford / AstraZeneca University, Novavax, and Sanofi / GSK.
Bar chart showing the number of vaccines at different stages of clinical trials.
How do states decide who gets the vaccine?
Plans for vaccine circulation vary by state, although development will be guided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the recommendations of associated advisory bodies. To date, state allocation plans have focused on the earliest priority groups from the CDC’s advisory committee. For the first stage, the committee prioritized health care staff and those in long-term care facilities.
Donut chart showing levels of vaccine satisfaction.
In fact, the biggest challenge is circulating the vaccines effectively. Surgo Foundation vaccine distribution designer estimates the number of people in each group, and combined with the reported original provision, takes into account an uncomfortable fact: it is very likely that initial releases of the vaccine enough for even the highest priority groups by spring.
Logistics makes complexity greater. While the incoming Biden-Harris administration hopes to invest $ 25bn in manufacturing and distribution, the Guardian said local health departments are currently finding themselves underfunded and underdeveloped.
How are states determining the numbers is the pandemic the biggest hit?
Advisory groups have recommended consideration of statistical tools, such as the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) or the Covid-19 Surgo Foundation Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI), to ensure equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. bith. Researchers examining the link between these indexes and Covid-19 hotspots have found that the counties with vulnerabilities, especially those with higher proportions of minorities, are vulnerable. , which struck the disease hardest. Similar results were in the CDC’s Mortality and Mortality Week Report in June.
Map of the most vulnerable counties and Covid-19 hotspots.
Other researchers are concerned about the legal implications of making decisions about distribution based on race. Instead, they recommend the use of the District Poverty Index (ADI) to provide legal challenge on both sides. However, the use of ADI to make allowances, according to the analysis, would bring lower benefits to minority communities, compared to the SVI.
Will there be enough vaccines?
On a long enough timeline, perhaps. As mentioned before, the first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine are not enough for most states to cover even the highest priority groups. Operation Warp Speed (OWS) leaders hope to have 20m doses available by the end of the year, with another 60m in January and 100m in February.
The US has also received more than 2 billion doses over several agreements with manufacturers. While this number may look high, it is important to consider the time it takes for each vaccine to go through manufacturing, authorization and circulation.
Although the US has received 100m doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, with 500m more doses selected, it is very likely that states will see even the first 100m until next year. Pfizer needs to reduce its expected 2020 global output by about 50m doses due to supply chain issues.
The Moderna vaccine will also provide an additional supply: nearly 6m doses were dispensed when the vaccine was approved by the FDA on Friday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has received an additional 100m doses of the Moderna vaccine, with continued delivery expected through June 2021.
Will my employer ask me to be vaccinated?
The Guardian reported earlier in the week that while employers have the right to prescribe vaccines and some – such as hospitals – have done so in the past, the Covid-19 vaccine is complex because it is still technically considered an experiment until it is fully licensed. Reporter Lauren Aratani says, “For now, employers will have the right to prescribe a Covid-19 vaccine in a legal gray area for the future.”
When can I expect to be vaccinated?
Depending on who you are, it is very possible that you are millions ahead of you in the vaccine line. The New York Times has created a tool for estimating your approximate location, but it is important to know that there are many unknowns that assign an approximate timeout to fit your location. very sad.
Many states are still figuring out who exactly counts as an essential worker. The issues are resolved by state by state, and are complicated by the diffusion and availability of vaccine supplies.
When can I expect things to return to “normal?”
Normalization takes some time to arrive. Dr. Anthony Fauci, at an online event at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, noted that, if vaccine administration goes well, some routine could be accessible by the end of 2021.
There are two important times when vaccines are possible, according to a study by McKinsey & Company. One of them is epidemiological endpoint: when the virus has adequate protection from the virus the spread of a community will be less likely. The speed with which this arrives depends largely on the success of the distribution and administration of the vaccines. Expert estimates put this level of immunity to be achieved by the third quarter of 2021, unforeseen difficulties nonetheless.
McKinsey’s study notes that regeneration of parts of our social or economic life, the second end point, may reach sooner than the epidemiological end of pandemic.