Researchers worldwide are frantically searching for a vaccine that effectively fights Covid-19. The German BioNTech, together with the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, recently released the first hopeful results of their corona vaccine.
On Monday, the developers announced the first preliminary research results. This shows that in nine out of ten cases infected test subjects benefit from the vaccine. That is more than experts, including Huckriede, expected.
Too early for conclusions
BioNTech’s research has now reached phase three, the final stage before large-scale production can begin. Nearly 44,000 subjects are participating in this study, divided into two groups. One half was vaccinated with the vaccine, the other half with a placebo. Nine times as many people of the latter group have become ill due to the corona virus. So the real vaccine seems to work.
In the short term, the vaccine offers protection, but will it stay that way?
But it is too early for definitive conclusions. There are still a number of uncertainties, Huckriede explains: ‘The vaccine offers protection in the short term, but will it stay that way? How long does the protection last? These questions cannot yet be answered. In six months ‘time it will be clear how many of the vaccinated subjects will still be infected.’
Side effects similar to flu shot, but stronger
The time pressure is great, the interests enormous. Still, according to the professor, there is little chance that mistakes will be made in the haste during the development of the vaccine: ‘That happens according to fixed protocols that guarantee safety. Known, possible side effects should be presented to the subjects’.
These side effects are comparable to those of the regular flu shot, only a bit stronger, says Huckriede: ‘A feeling of flu for a few days, feverish and some headaches. In itself a good sign, because that means that the body is building up defenses’.
Unexpected side effects can never be completely ruled out, Huckriede admits. ‘But the question is whether the vaccination is the real cause. For example, if someone has a heart attack two days later, it probably has nothing to do with that vaccine. ‘
‘Risk spreading by the government is sensible’
In addition to the German-American variant, other promising vaccines against Covid-19 are also in the works. The Dutch government has already ordered millions of pieces of different variants in an EU context. That’s wise, because that’s how you spread the risk, says Huckriede. By betting on more horses you also prevent you from immediately having to contend with a shortage.
This vaccine should be stored at a temperature of 80 degrees below zero. That is a logistics challenge
For example, BioNTech’s A vaccine must be administered twice per person. So the Netherlands alone will need tens of millions of doses of that vaccine. And the question is how quickly they can be delivered.
Adder in the grass
The German vaccine therefore seems to be the first to reach the finish line. Yet there is another catch, warns the UMCG professor: ‘This vaccine must be stored at a temperature of eighty degrees below zero. That is a logistical challenge, but I expect we can handle it. ‘
The costs will not be tender either, says Huckriede: ‘Although I do think that this is ultimately of minor importance. The costs of a society that is locked up are much higher ‘.
Mutation
But what if the virus changes? That danger loomed recently in Denmark. There, a new variant of the Covid-19 virus was discovered, which may be resistant to a vaccine. This variant turned out to come from mink farms, which are therefore all being cleared at short notice by order of the Danish government. A necessary measure, thinks Huckriede: ‘That virus floats around in enormous quantities on these farms, with so many animals together’.
But apart from these kinds of calamities, according to Huckriede, there is little chance that the virus will outsmart vaccines, which are in advanced development, in the short term. ‘The virus has no reason to change, because for the time being hardly anyone has antibodies in their body’.
Also read:
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– Read all about corona in the province
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