Estremadura is waiting to receive the Spanish vaccine against covid-19, which will arrive in the next few days. Europe authorized its release to the market ten days ago, marketed by Hipra laboratories and will be sold under the trade name ‘Bimervax’; It is the first designed, tested and produced in Spain. It is recommended for a booster dose in people over 16 years of age who have previously been immunized with Pfizer or Moderna (can be given six months after the last dose has been received).
Europe approves the Hipra vaccine, the first Spanish injection against covid-19
It will also be available at health centers in the region or at vaccination centers, although at the moment the Extremadura Health Service (SES) does not have an estimate of how many doses it will acquire to protect users. «The policy from Extremadura joint It has always been to follow the recommendations of the Vaccine Report of the Public Health Commission of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System. Therefore, we will do what is decided in that scientific body ». has stated to this newspaper.
The price of the dose will range between 7 and 9.75 euros (each Pfizer vaccine costs about 15 euros and Moderna’s exceeds 20), although Spain will be the country that will be able to buy it the cheapest, due to the Government’s investment in its development. For now it will only be sold in Europe, which has already approved the acquisition of 250 million doses and Spain has already authorized 3.2 million, although it remains to be seen how many will reach each autonomous community.
Hipra’s is the eighth immunization against it coronavirus that is put on the market. But it is presented as the most updated to the current needs of the pandemic. It is due, as they explain from the laboratories, to the fact that it uses a different technology compared to injections from Pfizer or Moderna to stimulate the immune system against the coronavirus. According to previous studies, this injection generates more antibodies against the beta and omicron variants, as well as comparable levels against the delta variant, which are currently circulating.
The most common side effects seen during clinical trials were similar to the other vaccines. These include pain at the injection site, headache, tiredness, and muscle pain. These were generally mild to moderate and disappeared within a few days after vaccination, according to the European Medicines Agency.