New waves are expected in Europe. Moderna and Sanofi with Gsk present their products which should be available from autumn. But the virus mutates faster than vaccine updates
On the eve of summer Omicron 4, but especially Omicron 5 are giving away one new wave of cases. The new variants do not seem to cause more serious disease than Omicron, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Ecdc, in its latest report, however “as in previous waves, an overall increase in Covid cases may lead to an increase in hospitalizations, intensive care and deaths “. The ECDC provides that the BA.4 and BA.5 will become dominant across the European Union due to their growth advantage. The new sub-variants have, among other things, the ability to reinfect people who had previously been infected with Omicron. Given the trend and the scientific knowledge acquired in two years of the pandemic, it is very likely that in the autumn we will have to expect a new wave following the increase in cases that is already occurring now.
New waves
How are we preparing for the cold season since now all scientists in the world agree with the idea that we will never get rid of Sars-CoV-2? Pharmaceutical companies are working to make a updated vaccine. Sergio Abrignaniimmunologist of the State University of Milan has already clarified to the Corriere della Sera which would be desirable propose to the entire population an updated vaccine on Omicron: «It would not be on three doses, but on a single dose, which will mount a good response against Omicron with the help of immunological memory against the conserved parts of the spike among all the variants (which are the majority of the spike protein). If such a vaccine were safe and effective, it would probably be recommended to everyone for autumn-winter, regardless of contagions ».
The new vaccine Sanofi and Gsk
It is from these hours the news that a new anti-Covid vaccine developed by Sanofi and Gsk proved effective against Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 sub-variants in two different trials. The results were anticipated Monday morning by pharmaceutical companies and the data are not yet available to the scientific community. The vaccine, designed as a booster to be administered after primary vaccination, is modeled on the characteristics of the Beta variant, which emerged in South Africa in mid-2021 and was soon supplanted by Delta.
The first of the two trials, called VAT02, was conducted on 1,500 people already vaccinated and showed that the vaccine is able, after 15 days from the injection, to increase antibodies against the original SarsCov2 virus by 15 times, by 30 times against the Beta variant e 40 times against the Omicron BA.1 sub-variant. Compared to its predecessor, which was targeted against the version of the SarsCov2 virus that spread to Europe in early 2020, the new vaccine induces double antibody production against the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 sub-variants.
The second trial (VAT013) compared the booster administration of the new vaccine with the first generation Sanofi-Gsk vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine in 247 people. “All three vaccines stimulate neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron BA.1 variant, with a higher response induced by the new generation Sanofi-Gsk vaccine”, reads a note from the companies, which anticipate that “all data supporting of this second-generation booster vaccine will be presented to regulatory authorities in the coming weeks, with the aim of making it available later this year“. In both studies, the next-generation vaccine candidate Sanofi-GSK was well tolerated, with a favorable safety profile. No data are available for BA.4 and BA.5.
Moderna’s updated vaccine
A few days ago, Moderna also published the results on its updated vaccine targeting Omicron. The researchers found that the booster of 50 micrograms demonstrated a superior response one month after administration in terms of antibodies to the Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2 compared to Moderna’s original vaccine. The combination in the new version, which involved 814 volunteers, produced an antibody level against omicron 1.75 times higher than the original vaccine.
The results seem encouraging, but it is the opinion of many scientists that the virus mutates so quickly that it exceeds the ability and speed to modify the vaccine whether trials on updated vaccines will have to be based on clinical data and data from laboratory tests involving mice or other animals will not be sufficient. Moderna has not released any data on how the updated vaccine worked against BA.4 or BA.5. and researchers are still collecting data on those sub-variants.
Forgotten ventilation
The ventilation of closed environments represents an effective solution to mitigate the risks of contagion, even in combination with vaccines. However, although there are now many international studies showing how controlled mechanical ventilation represents a key contribution in the battle against Sars-Cov-2 (and other pathogens), reducing the risk of contagion, it has not yet been seriously considered at the level. politician with adequate investments. Will the students return to school in September with the “muzzle”?
June 13, 2022 (change June 13, 2022 | 18:40)
© Time.News