Covid-19, all the doubts about the new vaccine. Efficacy, shelf life, safety, and storage

Are we there yet? Are we at a real turning point with the vaccine against Covid-19 or do doubts only allow us cautious hopes? The news related to the vaccines to prevent covid-19 they are an injection of pure confidence capable of improving our mood but also of making the stock markets soar, which start to bet on a return to normalAnd it's precisely being able to go back to doing everything that was normal before February and is no longer normal now that warms our hearts the most.

COVID-19 VACCINE QUESTIONS

However, hopes are accompanied by doubts. Also fueled by the scientific community, as in the case of the skepticism expressed by Professor Andrea Crisanti, censured by the majority of his colleagues. And aside from the squabbles among experts, Italians have doubts: almost one in two, according to research by the EngageMind Hub at the Catholic University of Milan.

COVID-19: DOUBTS ABOUT THE VACCINE

This time people's doubts are not based on ideological levers, as in the case of the positions of the No Vax, but on some fundamental unresolved issues even by those further ahead in the vaccine race. Let's look at the most important ones.

A provisional verdict. So far, over 130 people have been vaccinated in the trial, including those in Phase 3. This is a lot, considering that vaccine trials traditionally enroll between 300 and 3000 people. However, the trial's verdict is still provisional, as it only tells us whether people have been protected from viral infection, not whether the vaccine prevents severe disease or death. If only 10 percent of vaccinated people remain vulnerable because they have contracted the virus, there could be many illnesses and deaths. And there's only one way to move from a provisional to a definitive verdict: administering the vaccine to a large population. With the possibility, which cannot be ruled out, that in the event of inconclusive results, the vaccine will be withdrawn.

Real-world effectiveness. This too is an open question: the vaccine's efficacy, once it's been released for sale, distributed, and used, is significantly lower than what was found in clinical trials. Why this difference? The answer lies in the fact that, in general, the tests were conducted on young people (only Moderna has said it also conducted them on people over 65), and vaccines may not work well in older people.

The security. It's true: the only symptoms observed in those tested are not serious. Fatigue, muscle aches, joint pain, headache, and fever (high between 39 and 40 degrees Celsius in only 2 percent of cases). But the Covid-19 vaccine uses the virus's messenger RNA, i.e., the viral genetic material, to induce an immune response, whereas vaccines typically use attenuated viruses or viral proteins. No vaccine of this type has yet been approved, so there may be surprises.

Those previously infected.  Another concern: the test results exclude people who have been previously infected. A widespread vaccine, which will reach a large portion of the population, will inevitably also be administered to those who have had the disease. And we also need to know the effects it will have on them. Currently, this is unknown.

How long will the effect last?  A question to which science, for now, has provided no answer. The hope is for robust cellular immunity, even in the face of genetic mutations of the virus. The most likely, and perhaps most desirable, hypothesis is that vaccination should be repeated periodically. Perhaps annually, as with the flu vaccine. But the idea that the vaccine can eradicate COVID-19 once and for all is truly only a hope.

The preservation of vaccines.  In any case, the COVID-19 vaccine will need to be stored at very low temperatures. This could be problematic, as the World Health Organization (WHO) also points out, especially given the fact that it requires two doses.

Lack of transparency in communications. Until now, companies have only communicated test results through media reports, not through scientific articles, which allow scientists to conduct all the necessary analysis and verification. And the announcements have been accompanied by a truly unsavory practice: stock sales, at a significant profit, by company CEOs who claim to have the vaccine in their pocket.

COVID-19 VACCINES

The best news lately has been coming from Pfizer / Biontech,  Modern and AstraZeneca with the Italian IRBM. The pharmaceutical giants have announced that their vaccines have a percentage of effectiveness between 70 and 95 percent. In the world, however, there are at least 239 vaccines which have been developed and among these 39 have reached the clinical trial phaseThe first doses will most likely arrive in Italy at the beginning of 2021, and it will be important not to be caught unprepared: organizing a large-scale vaccination campaign will be no easy feat. A commission is already ready in Spain which will make public the plan developed by Madrid in a few days. In our country, however, the matter (yet another) has been entrusted to Super Commissioner Domenico Arches, which, however he hasn't made any commitments yet on the path that Italy will take.

PFIZER BIONTECH VACCINE

Regarding the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the trial phase has completed Phase 3 testing on 43.500 volunteers. In 95% of cases, the vaccine was found to be effective in preventing the onset of the disease. Furthermore, only a few rare side effects were recorded, which were mild or moderate in intensity and resolved quickly. Before distributing this vaccine, like all others, will have to wait for authorization from the respective drug agencies. But the professor Ugur Sahin, co-founder of BioNTech, is convinced that it will soon be possible to start shipping the first doses and that, thanks to vaccines, starting next winter it will be possible to return to normal lifeThe only real critical issue with this vaccine is its storage: doses can only remain at room temperature for a few days and must be stored in special cold rooms capable of reaching temperatures of -70-80 degrees Celsius.

MODERN VACCINE

This vaccine, like the one developed by Moderna, uses innovative technology This involves protecting a strip of genetic material, messenger RNA (mRNA). The serum's goal is to train the immune system to recognize and block the coronavirus by preventing it from exploiting specific proteins it uses to bind to human cells. To be effective, the two vaccines require a double administration, which is why careful and timely distribution planning will be required on a large scale and down to the smallest detail.

CORONAVIRUS VACCINES

In addition to these two vaccines, among the 39 in the testing phase, about ten have started Phase III trials and are now about to complete this fundamental stage. Five are produced by companies based in Europe or the United States, four are produced by Chinese companies, and one is the work of the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow. These products are very different from each other in terms of biological characteristics and development stage, but It is likely that several of these may prove effective.

VACCINE: ITALIANS' DISFIDENCE

In short, there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic even if, according to polls, many people in Italy are skeptical about the vaccine. IpsosIn fact, as many as one in six Italians will refuse to be vaccinated. Specifically 16% say they will not do so if it will be available in 2021, and 42% will wait to understand its effectiveness. These doubts can be considered legitimate up to a certain point, especially considering that vaccination is not a choice that affects only the individual. The vaccine, in fact, is important for those who do it but also, if not above all, for those who, immunosuppressed, they would like to do it but they can't.