"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.
The message that we must continue to protect ourselves with masks, distance, ventilation and hand washing has been repeated since the beginning of vaccination, but in the midst of the pandemic in Europe it is even more important. Several experts warn that the high vaccination coverage in Spain will mitigate the new wave but will not eliminate it: although vaccines prevent serious disease, they are not an insurmountable shield and must be complemented with behavioral measures.
European countries are implementing anti-covid strategies in the unvaccinated population. Austria will make vaccination mandatory after extending its confinement targeting the unvaccinated to the entire population. In Germany, the unimmunized have restricted access to restaurants and hotels, and must show a negative test on public transport. Slovakia has also imposed restrictions on those who have chosen not to be vaccinated. Sweden will introduce a covid passport at events of more than 100 people. What is the effect of these policies?
The United States has already approved the vaccination of children aged 5-11 years against covid-19. In Europe, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will decide in the coming weeks on the use of the Comirnaty vaccine in this population. Here is what several Spanish paediatricians think about it.
A study has monitored T-lymphocyte responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spicule in 71 healthy donors who received two doses of Pfizer's vaccine. After up to six months' follow-up, the researchers found that specific memory cells were generated and maintained and persisted for at least six months.
An analysis of 602 community contacts of 471 covid-19 index cases indicates that the secondary attack rate (SAR) for household contacts exposed to the delta variant is 25% in fully vaccinated individuals, compared to 38% in unvaccinated individuals.
A study of 32 million adults in England has shown a small increase in the risk of suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrome and Bell's palsy, two neurological conditions, after receiving AstraZeneca's vaccine. There was also an increased risk of stroke after receiving Pfizer's vaccine. However, according to the paper, these side effects are rare and the chances of suffering them are much higher after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Two studies, one published in The New England Journal of Medicine and the other, the CDC's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), find that vaccination against COVID-19 effectively protects children and adolescents aged 12-18 years from both infection and severe disease. Both papers cover periods when the more transmissible Delta variant was dominant. Paediatrician Ángel Hernández Merino assesses these results.