MADRID, 25 (SERVIMEDIA)
The new vaccines against covid-19 are adapted to the new variants, XBB.1.5 and 1.6, and this year, as a novelty, they do not contain the Wuhan variant with the aim of improving the body’s immune response, according to the Spanish Association of Vaccinology (AEV).
This was stated this Monday by Dr. Jaime Pérez, president of the AEV, in an interview with Servimedia. The vaccine that will be inoculated in this new vaccination campaign is adapted to the new strains and “does not include the original variant”, that of Wuhan, as last year’s vaccine did “to obtain improved immunological results.” This means that it is monovalent and not bivalent, “since it activates antibodies exclusively against new strains or variants,” as Dr. Pérez explained.
The new vaccine against covid that will begin to be used this fall is that of the company Pfizer, according to the AEV, although it is expected that in a few months the pharmaceutical companies Novavax and Hipra will be able to have their sera adapted to the new variants of coronavirus ready. .
The important thing about the vaccine, according to the president of the AEV, is that it is a serum that is “adapted to the variants that are circulating the most in the world, which are XBB.1.5 and 1.6 and that, being monovalent, will make the appropriate antibodies are activated.
He added that “when a vaccine that includes a Wuhan variant is inoculated, the immune system will respond better to the strain it knows best, which is the original one, but it will have a lower immune response to fight against the new strains.” This is the reason why the new serums exclusively contain the most prevalent Covid variants.
WHY SMOKERS
Another novelty of this vaccination campaign is that smokers constitute a new risk group. The reason is that “smokers have an increased risk of suffering from any respiratory disease, in addition to some oncological and chronic diseases, such as COPD,” as the president of the AEV explained.
In addition, the group of smokers “have a greater risk of having serious illness when they have pneumonia or when they have the flu and of complications”, which is why it is recommended to stop smoking and get vaccinated against flu and covid at the same time.
Finally, Dr. Jaime Pérez highlighted the importance of vaccination, “especially for adults” and also for children. He stressed that the population over 60 years of age is often more reluctant to be vaccinated against influenza, and encouraged them to “also review their vaccination against pneumococcus.”
(SERVIMEDIA)25-SEP-2023 13:52 (GMT +2)CAG/gja
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2023-09-25 11:52:00
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