Francesco Le Foche, clinical immunologist of the Policlinico Umberto I in Rome, what does this mean Johnson & Johnson vaccine blockade?
First of all, pharmacovigilance works. The causality of thrombosis cases is being studied, for now there is only a temporal link. We are talking about six cases out of seven million people and we are not sure that they were caused by vaccines.
This block will slow down our vaccinations?
No, I don’t think so, first of all because we have three other types of vaccines available and I am sure that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be restored as soon as possible, perhaps with precise indications as happened for the AstraZeneca vaccine recommended for over 60s.
But the AstraZeneca vaccine was initially recommended for an age group between 18 and 55, what changed?
That the documents presented to EMA (the European Medicines Agency, ed) were only for that age group. Then empirically it was seen that the best age was 60 years. A suitable range will also be established for Johnson & Johnson.
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What studies are they doing on this vaccine?
It has been seen that the most affected areas are the cerebral cavernous sinuses and the abdominal area and this is being studied, I repeat in very few cases. We need to move forward with vaccinations by taking the example of the UK.
How was such a speed possible?
Because the UK has its own regulatory agency, the MHRA, which has never stopped vaccines. In Great Britain they found themselves with water in their throats and continued to vaccinate regardless of the FDA blockades (the US regulatory body, ed) and Ema.
Do you think we will achieve herd immunity by the summer?
Herd immunity not, but mass immunity s.
What’s the difference?
Herd immunity is reached when at least 90% of the population is vaccinated, and mass immunity when it reaches 55-60%.
And what does mass immunity entail?
A protection of a very high part of the population that allows us to proceed with reopening safely. We have to learn that vaccines are a part of the strategy to fight this virus. A very important part, but for which there are equally important complementary interventions.
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Which ones, for example?
Monoclonal antibodies, used correctly, can avoid intensive care, but also hospitalizations. For this we need a triple alliance between general practitioner, patient and hospital doctor.
How does this triple alliance work?
Everything starts with the family doctor who must identify fragile patients in the first three days of the infection, and must be very quick in sending an email to the doctor at the hospital’s monoclonal antibody center. If you intervene in these times, the patient goes home without hospitalization.
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What do you mean by frail patients?
Obese patients, heart patients, hypertensive patients, those who have more pathologies.
Then there are the specific drugs, at what point is the experimentation?
By September-October we will be able to have drugs that block viral replication and those that block pro-inflammatory cytokines. By combining these three interventions – vaccines, antibodies and drugs – we can reach the light we see at the end of the tunnel. Even if the most important thing is to get busy to organize the principals in the area that should represent the medicine of the future.
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April 14, 2021 (change April 14, 2021 | 21:36)
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