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The first solid work on the ability of vaccines to stop infection with the omicron variant, which has just been published, reinforces the need for a third dose. Experts recall, however, that the aim of vaccines was never to stop infection, but to prevent severe disease. We summarize what is known so far about it.
In recent days, several countries have modified the quarantine times for close contacts and the isolation of infected people, while others are already considering it. Spain has announced that it will reduce these periods to 7 days, both for people who have tested positive in a test and for close contacts who require quarantine (in the case of our country, unvaccinated people).
La EMA ha recomendado hoy la autorización de la quinta vacuna frente a la covid-19 para mayores de 18 años: la estadounidense Novavax, la primera basada en una plataforma de proteínas recombinantes.
A survey conducted by the COSMO-Spain team to find out the reasons why some people have not yet been vaccinated showed that most of them fear that vaccines are unsafe and their side effects. These results highlight the importance of rigorous communication of drugs that are considered safe and effective by all studies and agencies.
The recommendation is to vaccinate children from 5 to 11 years old with the vaccine approved in Europe for this age group, Comirnaty (Pfizer) with one third of the dose used in children over 12 years old. But parents still have doubts. Here we answer the classic ones (safety, risk/benefit) and other more specific ones: allergies, genetic syndromes, high-risk individuals...
In the last few days, data, preprints, press releases and even graphs have started to arrive via social media showing how neutralising antibodies against the omicron variant behave. These studies are preliminary and we will have to wait and see how these lab data translate into the real world.
The Public Health Commission (CSP) of the Spanish National Health System approved last December 7 the vaccination of children aged 5-11 against covid-19. Attached are statements by the coordinator of the Vaccine Commission of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics, Francisco Álvarez García, as well as other journalistic resources on this subject.
"Equity in the distribution of vaccines is not a matter of charity; it benefits all countries," said Tedros Adhanom, director of the WHO. However, his data speak of a very unequal distribution: more than 80 % of the vaccines have gone to G20 countries, while poor countries, mostly African, have received only 0.6 %. Three Spanish experts analyze what went wrong.
The misleading presentation of hospitalization data, ICU admissions or deaths in vaccinated and unvaccinated persons that we are seeing these days in some media and social networks are generating confusion about the effectiveness of these preparations.
The new B.1.1.529 variant, dubbed Omicron, has spread across the globe, with new countries announcing its detection with each passing day. While questions such as whether it is more transmissible are being investigated, the biggest question surrounds its relationship with vaccines - will they cease to be effective, and will this variant escape our immune systems? Several experts answer.