Faced with novel Coronavirus that has swept the world, vaccine companies around the world are working hard to develop a safe and effective vaccine, while the mRNA novel coronavirus vaccine produced by Pfizer inc. caused a frenzy of buying in countries around the world immediately after it was announced as a successful clinical trial in November.
In early December Pfizer’s vaccine was given emergency approval for sale in the United States and other Western countries, and Israel, whose relations with the United States have always been pro-American, is in the vanguard.
Since the Israeli Health Ministry began a mass vaccination campaign against Pfizer on December 20, half a million people across Israel have been vaccinated against the vaccine.
Previously, however, in countries such as Britain and the United States after vaccination, some of the new champions league vaccine tester in vaccinations appeared a severe allergic reaction, after testing and before Israel, ready to start large-scale Pfizer vaccine, there are a lot of people are not willing to Israel for vaccination, they worry that vaccination is likely to endanger the safety of his own life, and it turns out that their worry is not without reason.
Israeli media reported that an 88-year-old man died in a Jerusalem hospital on the afternoon of December 29 after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
Against the backdrop of mass vaccination in Israel, the elderly and young children were among the first protected groups to be vaccinated, but the elderly man collapsed after returning home in the afternoon.
Paramedics rushed the man to Sasanskopps Medical Center, but nothing could be done.
News that the elderly man died after receiving Pfizer’s vaccine has raised concerns in Israel and around the world about the safety of Pfizer’s vaccine.
Given that this is the second death from COVID-19 in Israel (the first was on December 24th), is Pfizer’s vaccine as safe as the United States and other countries claim?
Are they better than the inactivated vaccines approved for sale in China on December 31?
Pfizer’s problem: Due to government prodding, allergic reactions have been deliberately diluted or glossed over
While in the third phase of clinical trial, Pfizer has not found the vaccine will produce large adverse reactions, but Pfizer vaccine phase iii trial was conducted under the financial support of the government, although also has carried on the careful observation, but the U.S. financial sector hopes to Pfizer vaccine on the market for production as soon as possible.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “The Pfizer vaccine, like any other vaccine, has undergone rigorous testing and is no different from any other vaccine.
Although there is a high risk of an allergic reaction within an hour of the injection, the reaction is not fatal.”
But the FDA played down or glossed over the potential for serious adverse reactions in the U.K. and Israel in order to win a sale, according to a person familiar with the company, leading to some unusual cases after Pfizer’s vaccines had been marketed in the U.S. and U.K.
Last week, British health authorities reported two cases of severe allergy to Pfizer’s vaccine, after two health workers in Alaska suffered severe reactions to the novel coronavirus vaccine.
The UK health service said it would continue to monitor the sensitivity of the general population to the vaccine and would not recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to people with a history of allergies.
Still, the FDA said, “The benefits of the Pfizer vaccine far outweigh any risks it theoretically would pose.”
And about the effectiveness of Pfizer vaccine, after the first vaccination needle, the vaccine to prevent will be coronavirus infection success rate can reach 52%, while the second needle after inoculation, it will be coronavirus immune can reach 90%, but is still part of the vaccinated after accepting vaccine appeared uncomfortable reactions such as headache, fever, but the expert thinks, the scope of these basic are able to control.
What are the differences between the Pfizer vaccine and the Chinese vaccine?
Which vaccine is safer?
In the field of novel Coronavirus research and development, China’s vaccine research and development progress has always been in the first echelon.
On December 31, The State Council of China officially approved sinopac’s inactivated COVID-19 vaccine to be marketed with additional conditions. In the phase III clinical trial, the protection ability of the vaccine against the general population was around 79.34%.
So you might wonder: Why are Chinese vaccines less effective than American-made Pfizer vaccines?
What is the difference between them?
In fact you don’t have to worry about, two kinds of vaccines for the protection of ordinary people, do not have too big difference, but the preparation of two vaccines way has some differences: Pfizer, the world leading technology is relatively advanced production enterprises, the production of the new vaccine is used by mRNA technology, the vaccine production technology is advanced, vaccinated after vaccination does not face the risk of infection, also won’t cause will be coronavirus mutation;
Moreover, the in vitro gene transcription technology on which the mRNA vaccine relies is also very mature. Compared with the production of traditional vaccine, which takes 5-6 months, the mRNA vaccine can be completed within 40 days, so as to deal with the threat of novel Coronavirus to the greatest extent.
So traditional inactivated vaccines have no advantage?
In fact, it’s not.
The new vaccine can only be stored in a special freezer at minus 70 degrees Celsius for a long time. It has a shelf life of only 15 days once it is transported in a regular temperature-controlled truck.
The vaccine is only valid for five days at terminals between two and eight degrees Celsius, making it a serious test of refrigerated transport technology around the world.
As a traditional vaccine, inactivated virus vaccine has the characteristics of mature preparation technology and good public acceptance, and there is no special requirement for the storage environment of the vaccine. It can only be stored in a general refrigerated storage environment, which is convenient for long-distance transportation and preservation.
So far, most of the vaccine manufacturers in China have chosen the inactivated vaccine technology, because the adverse reactions produced by the inactivated vaccine can be predicted and prevented, while the severe adverse reactions produced by the vaccine produced by the mRNA technology are often unpredictable, and may even lead to the death of patients with poor immunity.
In addition, the inactivated vaccines also contain broad-spectrum viral proteins, and antibodies produced by other viral proteins in the inactivated vaccines can continue to function even after the virus mutates, compared with mRNA vaccines that only transcribe some of the virus’s genes.
And as to the problem of vaccine efficacy, we don’t have to worry about, because China has a large number of drug companies are stepping up production or introduce will be coronavirus vaccine, and the third phase of clinical data shows the vaccine effectiveness is only a conservative estimate, believe that with time, China will be able to produce higher vaccine or improve the efficient, resistance to disease in the world history glorious chapter of their own.