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All three Covid vaccines extremely efficient, urges individuals to take obtainable shot

All three Covid vaccines highly effective, urges people to take available shot

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a press conference at the White House in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on January 21, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Alex Wong | Getty Images

The Chief Medical Officer of the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday he would be taking the newly approved Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine and urged Americans to take the available shot if they are eligible.

The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday approved J & J’s vaccine, giving the US a third tool to fight the pandemic after vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer. The company expects to ship 20 million cans by the end of March.

“All three of them are really pretty good, and people should go for the one that is best available to them,” Fauci said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

“If you go to a place and have J&J, and that’s the one that’s available now, I’d take it,” Fauci said. “Personally, I would do the same. I think people need to be vaccinated as soon and as quickly as possible.”

The J&J vaccine is different from the others in that it is a single dose and patients do not have to return for a second dose. It can be stored at refrigerator temperature for months. The shot has shown an overall effectiveness of 66%, 72% in the USA and 57% in South Africa, where variant B.1.351 has spread rapidly.

Although the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines showed higher efficacy rates in two-dose studies compared to J & J’s single-dose vaccine, Fauci insisted that the J&J shot isn’t a weaker vaccine, and the trial data shouldn’t be for the three Shots are compared as they were tested at different times.

“You must now have three highly effective vaccines,” said Fauci. “There is no doubt about that.”

As the country sees a decline in new coronavirus cases and an improvement in vaccination rates, Fauci warned states to relax restrictions on pandemics prematurely, which could lead to a renewed spike in infections.

Cases have dropped from 300,000 a day to around 70,000, a baseline that’s still too high, Fauci said.

“We don’t want to keep preventing people from doing what they want. But let’s get to a good level,” Fauci told CBS ‘Face the Nation. “Let’s vaccinate a lot more people. And then you could withdraw these kinds of public health measures.”

“But right now that we are going under and reaching a plateau, it is not time to declare victory because we are not yet victorious,” he said.

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Covid Vaccines: Johnson & Johnson’s shot licensed by F.D.A.

Covid Vaccines: Johnson & Johnson's shot authorized by F.D.A.

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday approved Johnson & Johnson’s one-of-a-kind emergency Covid-19 vaccine, starting millions of doses of a third effective vaccine that could hit Americans early next week.

The announcement came at a critical time as the sharp drop in coronavirus cases appears to have plateaued and millions of Americans are on waiting lists to be shot.

Johnson & Johnson has pledged to make 100 million cans available to the US by the end of June. Combined with the 600 million doses of two-shot vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna due to arrive in late July, there will be more than enough shots to cover any American adult who wants one.

But federal and state health officials are concerned that some people may view Johnson & Johnson’s shot as an inferior option despite poor data.

The 72 percent effectiveness of the new vaccine at the clinical trial site in the US – as a number of scientists have celebrated – is below the rate of around 95 percent found in trials testing the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. Across all trial sites, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine showed 85 percent effectiveness against severe forms of Covid-19 and 100 percent effectiveness against hospitalizations and deaths.

“Don’t necessarily get involved in the numbers game because it’s a really good vaccine and we need as many good vaccines as possible,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease expert, in an interview on Saturday. “Instead of analyzing the difference between 94 and 72, accept the fact that you now have three highly effective vaccines. Period.”

If the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been the first to be approved in the US instead of the third, “everyone would be doing handstands and backflips and high-fives,” said Dr. James T. McDeavitt, Dean of Clinical Affairs, Baylor College of Medicine.

On Sunday, a committee of vaccine experts advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet to discuss whether certain populations should be prioritized for the vaccine. These guidelines have been eagerly awaited by state health authorities in anticipation of FDA approval.

A administration official familiar with the distribution of the vaccine said deliveries would start Monday and deliveries could arrive as early as Tuesday.

Johnson & Johnson has announced that it will ship nearly four million cans once the FDA clears distribution and another 16 million cans by the end of March. That’s far less than the 37 million cans foreseen in his $ 1 billion federal contract, but the contract states that deliveries 30 days late are still considered to be on time.

The federal government is paying the company $ 10 per dose for a total of 100 million doses that should be ready by the end of June, significantly less per dose than agreed to pay Moderna and Pfizer, who developed their vaccine with a German partner, BioNTech .

With Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, states can rapidly increase the number of people fully vaccinated. Unlike the other two vaccines, it can be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures for at least three months.

Dr. Danny Avula, the vaccine coordinator for Virginia, said supplies from Johnson & Johnson would add nearly a fifth to the state’s vaccine allotment next week.

“I’m super excited,” he said. “One hundred percent effectiveness against deaths and hospitalizations? That’s all I need to hear “

He said the state is planning mass vaccination events specifically for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, in part to suppress suspicions that it is a lesser product targeted at specific groups.

“It will be very clear that this is Johnson & Johnson. Here’s what you need to know about it. If you want to do this, come in with your eyes open, ”he said. “If not, keep your place on the list.”

Michele Roberts, assistant secretary for the Washington State Department of Health, said it was difficult to explain the technical aspects of the differences between Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine studies and those of other drug companies. Because the studies were conducted at different times and with different protocols, accurate comparisons can be problematic. All three studies showed that the vaccines offer strong protection against Covid-19, especially in severe illness.

Updated

Apr. 27, 2021, 6:11 p.m. ET

Understanding the subtle contrasts requires a lot of “scientific expertise,” she said. “There are so many different factors at play. But that’s not quick public news. “

Even some clinicians misinterpret the differences between the Covid-19 vaccines, health officials said. “They assume it’s apples to apples, but it’s apples to oranges, or worse, apples to ripening,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last week, said Dr. Shah, the head of a group of specialist clinics in his state initially turned down his offer to ship doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, saying his doctors were concerned that this would be less effective than the other two.

He said he said to him, “Stop right there. We now need to have a Zoom talk with all of your medical staff. “Instead, he carefully explained the results from Johnson & Johnson to the vendor, who then spoke to their employees. Twenty minutes later the provider sent him a message: “We are on board. Send us the J & J. ”

Some state officials have been frustrated with what they see as the lack of a coordinated plan by the Biden government to introduce the new vaccine. The governors have sought advice from the White House, but government officials have so far left it to the states to decide.

Although Johnson & Johnson received ample federal support and agreed to manufacture at risk, federal officials familiar with the way it worked said the company had an overly conservative approach to manufacturing and emphasized scaling at the back of its contract.

As a result, Johnson & Johnson is expected to ship the majority of its 100 million cans in late spring or early summer. The country will continue to need them: by the end of May, Pfizer and Moderna have promised to ship enough doses to vaccinate 200 million Americans, so that around 60 million eligible adults are not yet covered. However, with more contagious variants of the virus spreading, health officials are keen to vaccinate as many Americans as possible as soon as possible.

Johnson & Johnson produced its first batch of approximately four million cans at its Dutch facility, federal officials said. The company’s new facility in Baltimore is expected to supply the majority of its cans for the United States.

Americans are becoming more open to Covid-19 vaccines, according to the latest survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has been overseeing attitudes since December. Fifty-five percent of adults say they either received a dose or will receive it as soon as possible, up from 34 percent in December.

However, Rupali Limaye, who studies vaccine hesitation at Johns Hopkins University, said she was concerned about whether health officials and community leaders would emphasize the strengths of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, including how well it did the occurrence of Severe Covid-19, hospitalization and hospitalization prevents death.

“People will want to know: why is this so much less and what does it mean to us?” She said. “I worry that there will be more questions than trust.”

Without further instructions from the federal government, the state health authorities consult with each other as to where the new source of supply should be directed.

Dr. Marcus Plescia, the chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Authorities, which represents state health authorities, predicted that “many states will be a little careful” about where they originally ship the vaccine.

“They don’t mean to say, ‘OK, we’re going to use this vaccine for our rural population because it’s easier to ship.'” This can spark a backlash from people who, for some reason, mistakenly suspect a second-rate vaccine is being offered , he said.

Dr. Maine-based Shah said the new vaccine is particularly good for drive-through vaccination sites, also because it is less likely to cause the kind of side effects that need to be monitored. Health officials in other states also said it might make sense to target the doses at transient populations who are less likely to show up in second shots. Universities could be particularly interested.

Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the state epidemiologist with the Arkansas Health Department, said the simpler storage conditions for the vaccine could also increase the number of vaccinations in other non-medical facilities such as senior centers or locations in underserved communities with no pharmacies or health care providers.

To limit possible confusion, some state health officials said they plan to initially route the new vaccine to new locations, not those who are already administering the other vaccines.

Dr. Shah said some Maine pharmacists would prefer to treat one type of Covid-19 vaccine at a time. Although that can change, said Dr. Shah: “Every day is important. Anything that is introduced into the workflow that slows the rate of vaccination hurts us. “

Carl Zimmer contributed to the reporting.

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Health

Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Pfizer’s efforts on a 3rd Covid vaccine shot

Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Pfizer's efforts on a third Covid vaccine shot

Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Thursday that the company is researching two different methods to provide vaccination protection against new coronavirus variants.

In an interview on Squawk Box, Gottlieb said the first approach focused on whether a booster shot using the current formulation of the two-dose vaccine would provide additional defense. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced a test that was not examined until early Thursday.

“There is reason to believe that just boosting the existing vaccine against these new variants will give you extra protection,” said Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner in the Trump administration.

The second endeavor is to modify the existing vaccine so that stronger immunity to virus mutations can be achieved, explained Gottlieb. The companies announced in a press release on Thursday that they are discussing the launch of this research study with regulators.

While new coronavirus variants affect public health officials, particularly the contagious strain first found in South Africa, Gottlieb said any change to the vaccine formulation would offer broad protection.

“What you want to do is not necessarily develop a vaccine that is specifically against [B.1.351], the change we’ve seen in South Africa, “said Gottlieb, who headed the FDA from 2017-2019.” You want to develop a protein sequence that is sort of a consensus sequence and that incorporates enough of the changes we’ve seen around the world that you have a vaccine that protects no matter what the virus does against itself. “

It is widely believed that the virus variant discovered in South Africa poses a greater challenge to existing vaccines than other new strains, such as the one originally discovered in the UK

For example, Johnson & Johnson reported that their vaccine was 72% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid in the US and 57% in South Africa, where the B.1.351 strain dominates. However, the vaccine provided 85% protection against severe Covid throughout the trial. Part of this has also been carried out in regions of Latin America where different variants exist.

The U.S. FDA is expected to use J & J’s vaccine soon after the agency’s emergency vaccine board meeting scheduled for Friday.

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which already have an emergency approval in the US, were tested in large phase three studies before the new variants were discovered. However, Pfizer and BioNTech conducted a study examining the variant found in South Africa. This indicated some reduction in antibody production, even though the vaccine was still neutralizing the virus.

In addition, Moderna has said that its two-dose vaccine appears to produce a weaker immune response against the South African variant, while adding that the antibody response remains at levels believed to provide protection.

Moderna announced Wednesday that it has shipped an optimized version of its vaccine to the National Institutes of Health to start various studies on variant protection. Similar to Pfizer, the company will also be testing a lower-dose booster shot of its current two-dose formulation.

Limited available doses have been a barrier to covid shots being given to more people once government approval has been granted. In the U.S. in particular, that situation has improved as companies ramp up production, and Gottlieb noted that J & J’s possible approval of the single-dose vaccine will also help expand access.

Should a booster shot be needed to ensure better protection against variants, Gottlieb was confident that the dosage might be available. “I don’t think we have to ration supplies if we want to give people a third booster in the fall,” he said.

“The challenge will be to think about the new vaccine variant and whether and when you would switch to this vaccine and how much you would produce,” said Gottlieb. “That will be a decision you need to make before these new variants of vaccines are likely to get approved. You may not want to switch all of your manufacturing, but you want to switch some of it.” He added, “You will likely have to make that decision sometime this summer.”

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, healthcare technology company Aetion, and biotech company Illumina. He is also co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean.

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World News

Chirlane McCray, N.Y.C.’s first woman, will get a vaccine shot and says ‘there actually is nothing to be afraid of.’

Chirlane McCray, N.Y.C.’s first lady, gets a vaccine shot and says ‘there really is nothing to be afraid of.’

New York first lady Chirlane McCray was given a Covid-19 vaccine at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn Tuesday afternoon as New York health officials attempt to eradicate severe racial inequality in the introduction of the vaccine.

Ms. McCray, who is 66 years old, meets the state’s current age requirements that allow New Yorkers over 65 to receive the vaccine. Her husband, Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is 59 years old, does not.

So far, residents of Black and Latino have received far fewer doses of vaccine than residents of White, although color communities are hardest hit by the virus. The city’s demographics are incomplete, but the latest data available shows that of the nearly 375,000 city residents who received a vaccine dose and whose race was recorded, about 46 percent were white, 16 percent Latin American, 16 percent Asian, and 12 percent black.

Latino and Black residents were particularly underrepresented: the city’s population is 29 percent Latinos and 24 percent black.

The city health department has been working to encourage New Yorkers Black and Latino to get vaccinated in hopes of addressing vaccine hesitation, given the history of unethical medical research in the US. But Mr de Blasio said last week that he and his wife, who is black, would not receive the vaccine until they met state approval criteria, citing a desire to reassure New Yorkers that the process was fair and equitable .

“People need to see that people they know, trust and respect are getting the vaccine,” de Blasio said at a press conference. “You also need to know that priorities are respected and those who need them most get them first.”

After Ms. McCray received her shot, the Eligible New Yorker encouraged her to sign up for vaccine appointments – although access to those appointments, which are listed on dozen of different websites, was one of the barriers to the fair distribution of the vaccine.

“There’s really nothing to worry about,” Ms. McCray said of the vaccination. “We want to do this for our families, we want to do it for our loved ones, and of course we want to do it for our city.”

As of Tuesday, New York City had given more than a million doses of the vaccine. Mr de Blasio had hoped to give so many doses in January alone, but blamed a lack of supply for the slower pace.

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AstraZeneca Shot Discovered to Be Protecting Towards Coronavirus Variant First Seen in U.Okay.

AstraZeneca Shot Found to Be Protective Against Coronavirus Variant First Seen in U.K.

The Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University protected people from a new, more contagious variant of coronavirus on a similar level as protection against other lineages of the virus, Oxford researchers said in an article published on Friday.

The paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, said the vaccine had an effectiveness of 74.6 percent over the new variant, first detected in the UK and known as B.1.1.7. This was similar, if slightly less than, its effectiveness against other lines of the virus.

The encouraging, if preliminary, results suggest that all five leading vaccines may offer at least some protection against new variants of the virus that is found around the world. However, the increasing evidence suggests that mutant viruses can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines and increase pressure on countries to vaccinate their populations quickly and outperform the globally distributed variants.

In clinical trials, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine protected all participants from serious illness or death.

The Oxford scientists behind the vaccine took weekly swabs from the nose and throat of participants who had taken part in their clinical trial in the UK. To determine the effectiveness of the vaccine against the new variant, they sequenced the virus particles from several hundred swabs between October 1 and January 14. At that time it was known that the new variant was available in Great Britain.

The vaccine had 84 percent effectiveness against other lines of the virus, compared with 74.6 percent against the new variant, although the small sample sizes produced a wide range of estimates.

Andrew Pollard, the lead investigator of the vaccine study at Oxford, said in a statement that data from the study, published Friday, “indicate that the vaccine protects not only against the original pandemic virus, but also against the novel variant B.1.1. 7 that caused the rise in disease across the UK from late 2020 “

The researchers also looked at blood samples from clinical trial participants who had been vaccinated and found that the variant may be better able to evade the antibodies produced by the vaccine.

The variant, first discovered in Great Britain, has since been reported in more than 70 other countries. Public Health England has estimated that the infection rate of the variant is 25 to 40 percent higher than that of other forms of the coronavirus.

Preliminary data from laboratory tests of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines suggest that they offer good protection against variant B.1.1.7. Novavax, which was sequencing test samples from its participants in clinical trials in the UK while the variant was widespread there, found that its vaccine against variant B.1.1.7 was highly effective.

Covid19 vaccinations>

Answers to your vaccine questions

Am I eligible for the Covid vaccine in my state?

Currently more than 150 million people – almost half of the population – can be vaccinated. But each state makes the final decision on who goes first. The country’s 21 million healthcare workers and three million long-term care residents were the first to qualify. In mid-January, federal officials asked all states to open eligibility to anyone over 65 and adults of any age with medical conditions that are at high risk of becoming seriously ill or dying of Covid-19. Adults in the general population are at the end of the line. If federal and state health authorities can remove bottlenecks in the distribution of vaccines, everyone over the age of 16 is eligible as early as spring or early summer. The vaccine has not been approved in children, although studies are ongoing. It can take months before a vaccine is available to anyone under the age of 16. For the latest information on vaccination guidelines in your area, see your state health website

Is the Vaccine Free?

You shouldn’t have to pay anything out of pocket to get the vaccine, despite being asked for insurance information. If you don’t have insurance, you should still get the vaccine for free. Congress passed law this spring banning insurers from applying cost-sharing such as a co-payment or deductible. It consisted of additional safeguards prohibiting pharmacies, doctors, and hospitals from charging patients, including uninsured patients. Even so, health experts fear that patients will end up in loopholes that make them prone to surprise bills. This may be the case for people who are charged a doctor’s visit fee with their vaccine, or for Americans who have certain types of health insurance that are not covered by the new regulations. When you get your vaccine from a doctor’s office or emergency clinic, talk to them about possible hidden costs. To make sure you don’t get a surprise invoice, it is best to get your vaccine from a Department of Health vaccination center or local pharmacy as soon as the shots become more widely available.

Can I choose which vaccine to get?How long does the vaccine last? Do I need another next year?

That is to be determined. It is possible that Covid-19 vaccinations will become an annual event just like the flu vaccination. Or the vaccine may last longer than a year. We’ll have to wait and see how durable the protection from the vaccines is. To determine this, researchers will track down vaccinated people to look for “breakthrough cases” – those people who get Covid-19 despite being vaccinated. This is a sign of a weakening of protection and gives researchers an indication of how long the vaccine will last. They will also monitor the levels of antibodies and T cells in the blood of people who have been vaccinated to see if and when a booster shot might be needed. It is conceivable that people might need boosters every few months, once a year, or just every few years. It’s just a matter of waiting for the data.

Does my employer need vaccinations?Where can I find out more?

The paper, released on Friday, did not address the protective power of the AstraZeneca vaccine against another fast-spreading variant of coronavirus known as B.1.351, which was first identified in South Africa. Researchers are running similar laboratory tests to measure the effect of this variant on the effectiveness of the vaccine.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been approved in nearly 50 countries around the world, but not in the United States, where the Food and Drug Administration is waiting for data from a clinical trial that included more than 30,000 participants, mostly Americans. The results of that study could be available this month, and AstraZeneca is expected to have enough safety data to seek emergency clearance from the FDA by the first week of March.

In the United States, variant B.1.1.7 has been identified in 33 states, but the full extent of its prevalence is unknown due to the lack of a national surveillance program. Federal health officials have warned that it could become the dominant form of the virus in the United States by March.

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Health

In Israel, Infections Drop Sharply After One Shot of Vaccine

In Israel, Infections Drop Sharply After One Shot of Vaccine

JERUSALEM – Israel, das weltweit führend bei der Impfung seiner Bevölkerung gegen das Coronavirus ist, hat einige ermutigende Neuigkeiten hervorgebracht: Frühe Ergebnisse zeigen einen signifikanten Rückgang der Infektion nach nur einem Schuss eines Impfstoffs mit zwei Dosen und bessere Ergebnisse als erwartet nach beiden Dosen.

Experten des öffentlichen Gesundheitswesens warnen davor, dass die auf dem Pfizer-BioNTech-Impfstoff basierenden Daten vorläufig sind und keinen klinischen Studien unterzogen wurden. Trotzdem bezeichnete Dr. Anat Ekka Zohar, Vizepräsident von Maccabi Health Services, einer der israelischen Organisationen zur Erhaltung der Gesundheit, die die Daten veröffentlicht haben, sie als „sehr ermutigend“.

Im ersten frühen Bericht verglich Clalit, Israels größter Gesundheitsfonds, 200.000 Menschen ab 60 Jahren, die eine erste Dosis des Impfstoffs erhalten hatten, mit einer entsprechenden Gruppe von 200.000, die noch nicht geimpft worden waren. Es hieß, dass die teilweise geimpften Patienten 14 bis 18 Tage nach ihren Schüssen mit einer um 33 Prozent geringeren Wahrscheinlichkeit infiziert waren.

Etwa zur gleichen Zeit gab Maccabis Forschungsabteilung an, nach nur einer Dosis einen noch größeren Rückgang der Infektionen festgestellt zu haben: eine Abnahme von etwa 60 Prozent, 13 bis 21 Tage nach dem ersten Schuss, bei den ersten 430.000 Personen, die ihn erhielten.

Maccabi gab keine Altersgruppe an oder gab an, ob die Daten mit einer übereinstimmenden, nicht geimpften Kohorte verglichen wurden.

Am Montag veröffentlichten das israelische Gesundheitsministerium und Maccabi neue Daten zu Personen, die beide Dosen des Impfstoffs erhalten hatten, und zeigten extrem hohe Wirksamkeitsraten.

Das Ministerium stellte fest, dass von 428.000 Israelis, die ihre zweite Dosis erhalten hatten, eine Woche später nur 63 oder 0,014 Prozent an dem Virus erkrankt waren. In ähnlicher Weise zeigten die Maccabi-Daten, dass mehr als eine Woche nach Erhalt der zweiten Dosis nur 20 von ungefähr 128.600 Menschen, etwa 0,01 Prozent, an dem Virus erkrankt waren.

In klinischen Studien erwies sich der Pfizer-Impfstoff nach zwei Dosen als zu 95 Prozent wirksam bei der Verhinderung einer Coronavirus-Infektion bei Menschen ohne Anzeichen einer vorherigen Infektion. Die israelischen Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Wirksamkeit sogar noch höher sein könnte, obwohl strenge Vergleiche mit nicht geimpften Menschen noch nicht veröffentlicht wurden.

“Dies sind sehr ermutigende Daten”, sagte Dr. Zohar. “Wir werden diese Patienten genau überwachen, um zu untersuchen, ob sie weiterhin nur an leichten Symptomen leiden und keine Komplikationen infolge des Virus entwickeln.”

Sowohl Clalit als auch Maccabi warnten davor, dass ihre Ergebnisse vorläufig seien, und sagten, dass ihnen bald eine eingehendere statistische Analyse in von Experten begutachteten wissenschaftlichen Veröffentlichungen folgen werde.

Israel, wo mehr als 40 Prozent der Bevölkerung bereits eine erste Dosis des Impfstoffs erhalten haben, ist zu einem internationalen Testfall für die Wirksamkeit der Impfung geworden.

Mit seiner geringen Bevölkerungszahl, dem hochdigitalisierten universellen Gesundheitssystem und der schnellen Einführung militärisch unterstützter Impfstoffe bieten Israels reale Daten eine nützliche Ergänzung zu klinischen Studien für Forscher, Pharmaunternehmen und politische Entscheidungsträger.

Israel hat mit Pfizer einen Vertrag abgeschlossen, bei dem das Pharmaunternehmen dem Land eine frühzeitige und stetige Versorgung mit Impfstoffen im Austausch gegen Daten sicherstellte. Das Gesundheitsministerium hat eine redigierte Fassung der Vereinbarung veröffentlicht.

Trotz seines Wettlaufs um die Impfung leidet Israel unter einer verheerenden dritten Welle des Coronavirus. Die Regierung hat diesen Monat nach wochenlangen Infektionen und Todesfällen eine strikte nationale Sperre verhängt.

Israel sollte die meisten Flugreisen innerhalb und außerhalb des Landes ab Mitternacht am Montag einstellen, um die Ankunft neu auftretender Virusvarianten zu blockieren, die die Impfkampagne des Landes gefährden könnten. Zwei Impfstoffhersteller sagten am Montag, dass ihre Impfstoffe gegen eine der neuen Varianten etwas weniger wirksam seien.

Solche realen Daten aus Israel sind zwar nützlich, unterliegen jedoch Variablen, die die Ergebnisse verzerren können und die durch klinische Studien berücksichtigt werden sollen.

Covid19 Impfungen >

Antworten auf Ihre Impfstofffragen

Wenn ich in den USA lebe, wann kann ich den Impfstoff bekommen?

Während die genaue Reihenfolge der Impfstoffempfänger von Staat zu Staat unterschiedlich sein kann, werden die meisten Ärzte und Bewohner von Langzeitpflegeeinrichtungen an erster Stelle stehen. Wenn Sie verstehen möchten, wie diese Entscheidung getroffen wird, hilft dieser Artikel.

Wann kann ich nach der Impfung wieder zum normalen Leben zurückkehren?

Das Leben wird erst wieder normal, wenn die Gesellschaft als Ganzes ausreichend Schutz gegen das Coronavirus erhält. Sobald die Länder einen Impfstoff zugelassen haben, können sie in den ersten Monaten höchstens einige Prozent ihrer Bürger impfen. Die nicht geimpfte Mehrheit bleibt weiterhin anfällig für Infektionen. Eine wachsende Anzahl von Coronavirus-Impfstoffen zeigt einen robusten Schutz vor Krankheit. Es ist aber auch möglich, dass Menschen das Virus verbreiten, ohne zu wissen, dass sie infiziert sind, weil sie nur leichte oder gar keine Symptome haben. Wissenschaftler wissen noch nicht, ob die Impfstoffe auch die Übertragung des Coronavirus blockieren. Selbst geimpfte Menschen müssen vorerst Masken tragen, Menschenmassen in Innenräumen meiden und so weiter. Sobald genügend Menschen geimpft sind, wird es für das Coronavirus sehr schwierig, gefährdete Personen zu finden, die infiziert werden können. Je nachdem, wie schnell wir als Gesellschaft dieses Ziel erreichen, könnte sich das Leben im Herbst 2021 einem normalen Zustand nähern.

Muss ich nach der Impfung noch eine Maske tragen?

Ja, aber nicht für immer. Die beiden Impfstoffe, die möglicherweise in diesem Monat zugelassen werden, schützen die Menschen eindeutig vor einer Krankheit mit Covid-19. Die klinischen Studien, die diese Ergebnisse lieferten, waren jedoch nicht darauf ausgelegt, festzustellen, ob geimpfte Personen das Coronavirus noch verbreiten können, ohne Symptome zu entwickeln. Das bleibt eine Möglichkeit. Wir wissen, dass Menschen, die von Natur aus mit dem Coronavirus infiziert sind, es verbreiten können, ohne Husten oder andere Symptome zu haben. Die Forscher werden diese Frage bei der Einführung der Impfstoffe intensiv untersuchen. In der Zwischenzeit müssen sich selbst geimpfte Menschen als mögliche Spreizer vorstellen.

Wird es wehtun? Was sind die Nebenwirkungen?

Der Impfstoff gegen Pfizer und BioNTech wird wie andere typische Impfstoffe als Schuss in den Arm abgegeben. Die Injektion unterscheidet sich nicht von denen, die Sie zuvor erhalten haben. Zehntausende Menschen haben die Impfstoffe bereits erhalten, und keiner von ihnen hat ernsthafte gesundheitliche Probleme gemeldet. Einige von ihnen haben jedoch kurzlebige Beschwerden verspürt, darunter Schmerzen und grippeähnliche Symptome, die normalerweise einen Tag anhalten. Es ist möglich, dass die Leute planen müssen, nach dem zweiten Schuss einen Tag frei zu nehmen oder zur Schule zu gehen. Obwohl diese Erfahrungen nicht angenehm sind, sind sie ein gutes Zeichen: Sie sind das Ergebnis der Begegnung Ihres eigenen Immunsystems mit dem Impfstoff und einer starken Reaktion, die eine dauerhafte Immunität gewährleistet.

Werden mRNA-Impfstoffe meine Gene verändern?

Nein. Die Impfstoffe von Moderna und Pfizer verwenden ein genetisches Molekül, um das Immunsystem zu stärken. Dieses als mRNA bekannte Molekül wird schließlich vom Körper zerstört. Die mRNA ist in einer öligen Blase verpackt, die mit einer Zelle verschmelzen kann, so dass das Molekül hineinrutschen kann. Die Zelle verwendet die mRNA, um Proteine ​​aus dem Coronavirus herzustellen, die das Immunsystem stimulieren können. Zu jedem Zeitpunkt kann jede unserer Zellen Hunderttausende von mRNA-Molekülen enthalten, die sie produzieren, um eigene Proteine ​​herzustellen. Sobald diese Proteine ​​hergestellt sind, zerkleinern unsere Zellen die mRNA mit speziellen Enzymen. Die mRNA-Moleküle, die unsere Zellen herstellen, können nur wenige Minuten überleben. Die mRNA in Impfstoffen ist so konstruiert, dass sie den Enzymen der Zelle etwas länger standhält, sodass die Zellen zusätzliche Virusproteine ​​bilden und eine stärkere Immunantwort auslösen können. Die mRNA kann jedoch höchstens einige Tage halten, bevor sie zerstört wird.

Die frühen israelischen Zahlen basieren auf den ersten Personen, die den Impfstoff erhalten haben. Solche Leute, sagen Experten, sind wahrscheinlich besorgter oder über das Virus informiert und daher vorsichtiger in Bezug auf soziale Distanzierung und das Tragen von Masken. Sie könnten sich auch von denen unterscheiden, die sich nicht beeilten, den Standort und den sozioökonomischen Status zu bestimmen.

Experten sagen auch, dass sich die Krankheit im Laufe der Zeit ändert. Prof. Ran Balicer, Chief Innovation Officer bei Clalit und führender israelischer Epidemiologe, sagte, dass zwei Wochen alte Daten wie Beweise aus einer anderen Zeit oder “in israelischer Hinsicht vor etwa einer Million Impfstoffen” sein können.

Maccabi sagte, dass es wöchentlich mehr Daten veröffentlichen würde. “Die Hauptbotschaft”, sagte Maccabi in einer Erklärung, ist, dass bereits die erste Dosis des Impfstoffs “wirksam ist und die Morbidität verringert und Krankenhausaufenthalte um viele zehn Prozent senkt.”

Experten weisen darauf hin, dass die Veröffentlichung von Rohdaten die Gefahr birgt, dass sie falsch interpretiert werden.

Nachdem Clalit vor zwei Wochen erstmals seine frühen Zahlen veröffentlicht hatte, hörten viele Menschen von einem Rückgang der Fälle um 33 Prozent, nicht von den erwarteten 95 Prozent, und kamen zu dem falschen Schluss, dass der Pfizer-Schuss nicht funktionierte.

In Großbritannien gab es einen Aufruhr, bei dem die Behörden die Abgabe der zweiten Dosis um bis zu 12 Wochen verzögert haben, im Gegensatz zu der 21-tägigen Lücke, auf die Pfizer seine Versuche stützte.

Professor Balicer betrachtete die Ergebnisse als gute Nachricht und war bestürzt darüber, wie sie interpretiert wurden.

“Wir waren beruhigt genug, um allen zu sagen, dass wir sehen, was wir gleich nach Tag 14 sehen sollten”, sagte er. “Ich weiß nicht, wie es zu einer Botschaft von ‘Oh mein Gott, es funktioniert nicht’ wurde.”

Professor Balicer, der auch Vorsitzender des Expertenteams ist, das die israelische Regierung bei ihrer Reaktion auf Covid-19 berät, hoffte, dass die positiven Ergebnisse einen Einfluss auf eine bevorstehende Regierungsentscheidung bezüglich einer dritten Sperrung haben könnten.

“Covid hat uns alle zu Amateurwissenschaftlern gemacht”, sagte Talya Miron-Shatz, außerordentliche Professorin und Expertin für medizinische Entscheidungsfindung am Ono Academic College in Zentralisrael. “Wir alle betrachten Daten, aber die meisten Menschen sind keine Wissenschaftler.”

Israel, das am 20. Dezember mit der Impfung von Menschen begann, hat mehr als 2,6 Millionen Israelis einen ersten Schuss gegeben und beide Schüsse mehr als einer Million Menschen.

Nachdem Israel mit Menschen ab 60 Jahren, Beschäftigten im Gesundheitswesen und anderen gefährdeten Personen begonnen hat, bietet es jetzt Impfungen für Menschen über 40 und Schüler im Alter von 16 bis 18 Jahren an, damit sie wieder zur Schule gehen können. Das Militär unterstützt die Bemühungen und 700 Reservemediziner der Armee helfen in Impfzentren.

Prof. Jonathan Halevy, der Präsident des Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, hatte die Ergebnisse der HMOs nicht untersucht, sagte jedoch, dass er zwei Wochen nach Einführung der ersten Dosis in schweren Fällen einen Rückgang bemerkte.

“Ich kenne mehrere Leute, die sich kurz vor dem Impfstoff infiziert haben, aber sie haben ihn leicht bekommen”, sagte er.

Dennoch bleibt Israel unter einer nationalen Sperre und die Beamten sind besorgt über die Entstehung neuer, hoch ansteckender Varianten. Es bleibt abzuwarten, wie wirksam die Impfstoffe gegen die neuen Varianten sind.

Trotz des scheinbar frühen Erfolgs des Impfstoffs richtet das Virus in Israel weiterhin Chaos an. Professor Halevy sagte, die Covid-Stationen seines Krankenhauses seien immer noch voll und er rechne damit, dass es weitere zwei oder drei Wochen dauern würde, bis ein Rückgang zu verzeichnen sei.

Das Virus hat allein in diesem Monat mehr als 1.000 Israelis getötet, fast ein Viertel derjenigen, die insgesamt an dem Pandemievirus gestorben sind.

Gesundheitsbeamte und Experten haben einen Großteil des jüngsten Anstiegs der Infektion auf die sich schnell ausbreitende Variante zurückgeführt, die erstmals in Großbritannien entdeckt wurde.

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Health

An Organ Recital, With a Coronavirus Shot

An Organ Recital, With a Coronavirus Shot

SALISBURY, England – One Saturday afternoon, 83-year-old Margaret Drabble sat under the towering arches of Salisbury Cathedral, swinging her legs under her chair like a school girl.

Minutes earlier, she had received her first shot of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus in a booth near the cathedral entrance. But that wasn’t why she looked so happy, she said. Instead, it was the elaborate organ music that gently echoed inside the cathedral.

“Oh, I love the organ,” said Drabble, a former school teacher. “It’s so beautiful, it makes me cry almost every time I hear it.”

“I’ve always wanted to play it,” she said wistfully. Then she looked at the 4,000 pipes on the organ outside the cathedral and sat up straight to listen. She had been told to sit for 15 minutes to make sure she did not develop an allergic reaction.

Britain is in the middle of a mass vaccination campaign trying to escape the spread of the virus as a new variant discovered in the land floods soars. So far, around 6.3 million people have received a first dose, just under 10 percent of the population.

The UK’s National Health Service has signed contracts with dozens of large venues to serve as vaccination centers. 33 new locations were announced on Monday, including an Oxford football stadium, several sports centers and a concert arena.

Patients have been receiving the vaccine in Salisbury Cathedral since January 16. There are vaccinations for around 1,200 people per day twice a week. Sessions last approximately 12 hours and most of the time, David Halls and John Challenger, the cathedral organists, provide a musical backdrop that ranges from iconic hymns to fairground tunes to euphoric classical works.

This makes the cathedral one of the few places in the country where live music can currently be heard. With much of Britain under lockdown restrictions for the third time, theaters, museums and concert halls have had to close. But in recent weeks, the UK government’s race to vaccinate its people has given some cultural venues a surprising lease on life.

Some – like the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds in the north of England and the Hertford Theater north of London – have become vaccination centers that take advantage of their large, well-ventilated rooms and crowd skills. Visitors now line up to get recordings instead of looking at showcases or singing along to musicals.

At least one well-known London attraction, the Science Museum, is under consideration, according to local authorities, and even circus operators have offered their big tops.

Salisbury Cathedral is of course more of a religious than a cultural place. In addition to organ accompaniment, anyone who was inoculated into the 13th-century Gothic building in south-west England can also marvel at its architecture and view several works of art spread across the site, including a giant reclining figure by sculptor Henry Moore and a tapestry of the contemporary British artist Grayson Perry.

Covid19 vaccinations>

Answers to your vaccine questions

If I live in the US, when can I get the vaccine?

While the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary from state to state, most doctors and residents of long-term care facilities will come first. If you want to understand how this decision is made, this article will help.

When can I get back to normal life after the vaccination?

Life will only get back to normal once society as a whole receives adequate protection against the coronavirus. Once countries have approved a vaccine, they can only vaccinate a few percent of their citizens in the first few months. The unvaccinated majority remain susceptible to infection. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines show robust protection against disease. However, it is also possible that people spread the virus without knowing they are infected because they have mild or no symptoms. Scientists don’t yet know whether the vaccines will also block the transmission of the coronavirus. Even vaccinated people have to wear masks for the time being, avoid the crowds indoors and so on. Once enough people are vaccinated, it becomes very difficult for the coronavirus to find people at risk to become infected. Depending on how quickly we as a society achieve this goal, life could approach a normal state in autumn 2021.

Do I still have to wear a mask after the vaccination?

Yeah, but not forever. The two vaccines that may be approved this month clearly protect people from contracting Covid-19. However, the clinical trials that produced these results were not designed to determine whether vaccinated people could still spread the coronavirus without developing symptoms. That remains a possibility. We know that people who are naturally infected with the coronavirus can spread it without experiencing a cough or other symptoms. Researchers will study this question intensively when the vaccines are introduced. In the meantime, self-vaccinated people need to think of themselves as potential spreaders.

Will it hurt What are the side effects?

The vaccine against Pfizer and BioNTech, like other typical vaccines, is delivered as a shot in the arm. The injection is no different from the ones you received before. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines, and none of them have reported serious health problems. However, some of them have experienced short-lived symptoms, including pain and flu-like symptoms that usually last a day. It is possible that people will have to plan to take a day off or go to school after the second shot. While these experiences are not pleasant, they are a good sign: they are the result of your own immune system’s encounter with the vaccine and a strong response that ensures lasting immunity.

Will mRNA vaccines change my genes?

No. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a genetic molecule to boost the immune system. This molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse with a cell, allowing the molecule to slide inside. The cell uses the mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus that can stimulate the immune system. At any given point in time, each of our cells can contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules that they produce to make their own proteins. As soon as these proteins are made, our cells use special enzymes to break down the mRNA. The mRNA molecules that our cells make can only survive a few minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is engineered to withstand the cell’s enzymes a little longer, so the cells can make extra viral proteins and trigger a stronger immune response. However, the mRNA can last a few days at most before it is destroyed.

Few visitors watched it on Saturday, but some listened carefully to the music.

“I live locally and we all said, ‘Have you been to the organ concert?’” Said Pam Scoop, 86. “We don’t say, ‘Have you been for a push?’” She added with a British term for a shot. Then she closed her eyes and listened as Halls played the uplifting Bach chorale “Jesus, joy in human desire”.

Nicholas Papadopulos, the dean of the cathedral, said he offered the building as a vaccine center as soon as he heard that a successful shot had been developed. “Our thought was that many elderly, vulnerable people who hadn’t been away from home much, if at all, in the past year would come,” he said, adding that the team “wanted to create an environment that was welcoming and calming and calming. “

“The obvious solution was to make music,” he said.

David Halls, the cathedral’s music director, said he had started playing famous classical pieces like Bach, Mozart and Handel. He said he then decided to branch out and play show songs like “Old Man River” and English music hall hits like “I Like To Be By The Sea” in the hopes that they would play would bring happy memories to older listeners.

“The phrase ‘smooth classics’ came to mind,” said Halls. “We didn’t want anything too prickly or uncomfortable or too fast.”

John Challenger, the cathedral’s assistant music director, said some residents have started sending inquiries via email. Someone suggested a work by the Australian organist and composer George Thalben-Ball, he said; On Saturday someone else emailed to ask about a play by Olivier Messiaen, including the time the work should be played.

“It’s weird what people want, isn’t it?” Challenger said.

Dan Henderson, one of the doctors overseeing the center, said the cathedral is a perfect place for vaccinations because its large, draughty space reduces the risk of contracting the virus. The music was a bonus, he added, but it had medicinal benefits because it reduced people’s anxiety. “It changes that from a medical intervention to an event,” he said, “and that really calms the patient down.”

There was only an occasional downside, he added. “We let patients sit in the observation area for half an hour to listen to music when they were only supposed to be there for 15 minutes. Sometimes it actually hampers the patient flow, ”said Henderson. “But I think that’s a pretty nice problem.”

Many visitors that last Saturday seemed to feel the urge to stick to the music and enjoy it. Sue Phillips, 77, sat in the waiting area with her husband, William, after being shot. The organists paused and she seemed disappointed with the silence.

“It would be nice if the organ played,” said Phillips. “All of these old people, including us, had a year without culture, music and beauty, then we have the chance to get our kick off to organ music.”

But shortly afterwards the organ came to life and the familiar tones of Hubert Parry’s “Jerusalem”, a patriotic English hymn, filled the room.

Phillips’ eyes lit above her mask. “Oh wonderful!” She said. “That’s magical.”

She looked at her husband and said, “I think we’ll stay 10 minutes.”

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Health

Cramer takes Covid vaccine, urges People to enroll in a shot

Cramer takes Covid vaccine, urges Americans to sign up for a shot

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday urged Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine soon after receiving a shot of his own.

“Today is a great day! I encourage all of you who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” wrote the Mad Money host on Twitter.

“One of the biggest things about a 65th birthday is the chance to get vaccinated,” added Cramer in his tweet. It was an indication of the recent change in New York policy to extend vaccine eligibility to those 65 years of age and older, as well as to younger people with compromised immune systems.

“Even if it looks like there are no more appointments, don’t be discouraged. Keep updating this page and you can make an appointment too!” wrote Cramer, who throughout the pandemic has stressed the importance of vaccines in limiting the harm caused by Covid-19.

New York announced its decision to expand the funding pool on Tuesday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reissued. The move came when the launch of the U.S. vaccine was criticized for being unconvincing, in part because some Americans were reluctant to get the shot.

“I think that’s great, because one thing is certain: we have a lot more vaccines than people who take the vaccine,” said Cramer on Tuesday on Squawk on the Street.

By Wednesday morning, around 10.3 million Americans had received their first shot of the two-dose vaccine, according to the CDC. About 29.4 million cans were distributed. The Trump administration originally hoped to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020.

Cramer said in another tweet on Wednesday that he received the vaccine developed by Moderna, which is one of two that has received emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The other vaccine is made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

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Politics

Lady Shot in Capitol Has Died

Woman Shot in Capitol Has Died

A woman who was fatally shot in the Capitol after being overrun by a pro-Trump mob was shot down by a Capitol police officer, a police officer said Wednesday night.

Metropolitan Police Department chief Robert J. Contee told reporters that the woman was shot dead by a police officer on Wednesday afternoon when plainclothes police were confronted with the mob. She later died in a hospital, he said, and the shooting is being investigated.

At least 14 Capitol police officers were injured during Wednesday’s demonstrations, Chief Contee said, including two who were hospitalized.

A video posted on Twitter Wednesday showed a shooting in the Capitol.

The woman in the video appeared to be climbing onto a small ledge next to a door in the building just before a single loud bang was heard. The woman, wrapped in a flag, fell to the floor at the top of a stairwell. A man with a helmet and a military style rifle stood next to her after she fell, and they called “police” when a man in a suit approached the woman and crouched next to her.

“Where did she meet?” People screamed as blood flowed around their mouths.

Chief Contee said three more deaths were reported from the Capitol area on Wednesday – one woman and two men. He said, without elaborating, that the three people appear to have “suffered from separate medical emergencies that resulted in their deaths.”

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Health

The UK is delaying second Pfizer/BioNTech shot: Here is what we all know

The UK is delaying second Pfizer/BioNTech shot: Here's what we know

The medical staff will receive the Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in the Favoriten Clinic in Vienna on December 27, 2020 on the occasion of the launch of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine.

Georg Hochmuth | AFP | Getty Images

The UK’s decision to delay the administration of the second dose of a coronavirus vaccine is controversial as experts, advisors and vaccine manufacturers weigh the strategy.

The UK was one of the first countries in the world to launch a mass vaccination campaign against the coronavirus after approving the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech in early December. Oxford University and AstraZeneca began rolling out the vaccine on Monday of this week after it was approved for use just before the New Year.

As both vaccines require two doses per person, the UK government initially said that a second dose would be given either three or four weeks after the first dose, depending on which vaccine was given and in line with the dosage regimens tested in clinical trials.

However, a break of up to 12 weeks is now recommended to give more people an initial dose – and initial protection against Covid-19.

Concerns from the vaccine manufacturer

BioNTech and Pfizer have responded to the decision, saying there is no evidence that their vaccine will continue to protect against Covid-19 if the second shot is given more than 21 days after the starting dose.

“Pfizer and BioNTech’s Phase 3 study of the COVID-19 vaccine was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the vaccine on a 2-dose regimen separated by 21 days. The safety and efficacy The majority of study participants received the second dose within the window specified in the study design, “the companies said in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday.

“Although data from the Phase 3 study showed partial protection from the vaccine as early as 12 days after the first dose, there is no data to show that protection is maintained after 21 days after the first dose.”

The companies said it was now “critical to conduct surveillance efforts” with alternative dosing schedules in place.

The final analysis of data from the Pfizer / BioNTech clinical trials found the vaccine to be 95% effective given seven days after the second dose in preventing Covid-19.

For the Oxford University / AstraZeneca candidate, the interim analysis of the late-stage study results was somewhat more nuanced, as the vaccine doses to the study participants showed an anomaly. When the vaccine was given in two full doses, it was found to be 62.1% effective, but when some study participants received half a dose followed by a full dose of 90%. In both dosing regimens, the two shots were given one month apart. AstraZeneca was not immediately available for comment on the UK’s decision to postpone the second dose.

Reasons for the decision

The decision to extend the dosage window is made as UK hospitals struggle with increasing admissions. The coronavirus is running amok in the UK, with a new, transmissible strain of the virus spreading exponentially in London and the South East, and now appearing in other parts of the country.

To date, the country has recorded over 2.6 million cases of coronavirus and more than 75,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The UK recorded 58,784 new cases on Monday and has now reported more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases for seven days in a row. On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a third nationwide lockdown for England.

Against this dire backdrop, the UK Medicines Agency, Joint Vaccination and Immunization Committee and the UK’s four chief medical officers agreed to move the gap between the first and second vaccine dose to “protect the greatest number of people in India” the shortest Time. “

There are signs that other Britain may follow suit. The German Ministry of Health is now asking an independent vaccination commission for advice on whether the British strategy on dose delay should be adhered to. Denmark has reportedly already approved a delay of up to six weeks between the first and second vaccinations.

‘Finely balanced’

So far, more than a million people in the UK have been vaccinated with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, according to government figures, and some, like the first recipient of this vaccine outside of a clinical trial, have received their second dose.

But now, thousands of others in the top priority category are being told to wait up to 12 weeks for their second dose.

The British Medical Association described the move as “grossly unfair” to thousands of high-risk patients in England, but the UK’s Independent Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) said in a statement released on Sunday that it was a “very difficult and finely balanced” move be decision. “

In response to the BMA’s concerns, SAGE said, “Under normal circumstances, we would advocate continuing our previous plans to give two doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine 21 days apart. However, these are not normal circumstances, and so it is are other important public health considerations. “

The UK is prioritizing vaccination of elderly care home residents, their carers, people over 80, and frontline health and social workers.

The country has pre-ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, enough for 20 million people, and signed a contract with AstraZeneca for 100 million doses, enough for 50 million people. There are around 66 million people in Great Britain.