December 21st, local time, the European Union approved the first coronavirus vaccine. This means that the EU27 countries will soon start mass vaccination in response to the worsening epidemic.
Before the European Union, many Western countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and other countries, had been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. The global vaccination situation has attracted widespread concern as the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus worldwide exceeds 77.3 million, the variant of the virus in the United Kingdom has caused concern, and the Christmas and New Year’s Day date is approaching.
Foreign affairs have sorted out five issues that have attracted much attention in the global vaccination.
Which countries have approved the coronavirus vaccine?
The United Kingdom was the first Western country to approve the emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine. On December 3, it approved the emergency use of Pfizer vaccine.
Immediately afterwards, on December 4, Bahrain became the second country in the world to approve a Pfizer vaccine. On December 13, Bahrain also approved the registration and listing of the inactivated coronavirus vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group.
Canada approved the use of Pfizer on December 9, and Mexico approved the emergency use of Pfizer on December 11. The United States also approved the Pfizer vaccine on December 11 and Modner vaccine on December 18.
On December 14, the Singapore government approved the Pfizer vaccine, becoming the first Asian country to approve the vaccine. On December 19, Switzerland approved the use of the Ruihui vaccine. On December 20, the European Union approved the Pfizer vaccine, and Germany, France, Austria and Italy plan to officially start vaccination on Sunday.
Which countries have started the fight?
On December 8, the vaccination campaign was officially launched in the United Kingdom. Margaret Keenan, 90, became the first person in the UK to get a coronavirus vaccine that day. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on December 20 that as of that day, more than half a million people in the UK had been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
Canada officially launched a coronavirus vaccine on December 14. On the same day, five front-line medical staff in Ontario were injected with the Ruihui vaccine in a hospital in Toronto.
The United States also officially began to vaccinate against the novel coronavirus on December 14. On the same day, Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse in Queens, New York, became the first person in the United States to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. According to the New York Times on December 21, more than 550,000 people have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus so far, and President-elect Biden, Vice President Pence, House Speaker Pelosi and others have also been publicly vaccinated.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was publicly vaccinated against Ruihui on December 19, becoming the first person in Israel to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. From December 20, 10 hospitals and vaccination centers in Iseli will first vaccinate medical staff, and then expand to other people, giving priority to people over 60 years old.
Russia began vaccinating some key populations against the Sputnik V coronavirus in August. Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Research Institute, which develops the Sputnik V vaccine, said recently that 150,000 Russians have been vaccinated.
According to a previous report by the Beijing News, Zheng Zhongwei, head of the special working group of vaccine research and development of the scientific research and research group of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of China and director of the Medical and Health Science and Technology Development Research Center of the National Health Commission, said on December 19 that since July, China has completed more than 100 emergency vaccinations for high-risk exposed people. Ten thousand doses. After that, China’s coronavirus vaccination will follow the “two-step” plan.
When the winter and spring season approach, some key populations will carry out vaccination. With the launch of vaccines and the improvement of production capacity, the vaccination scope will be further expanded.
Which vaccines have been approved?
So far, most of the coronavirus vaccines approved by Western countries are jointly developed by Pfizer in the United States and BioNTech in Germany. In addition, the United States has approved a novel coronavirus vaccine developed by Modena, and it is the only country to date to approve the vaccine.
Both vaccines need to be injected with a second dose of Pfizer at intervals of 21 days and a second dose of Modena vaccine at intervals of 28 days. Pfizer announced in November that its vaccine can be effective at 95%. Data released by Modena on December 15 shows that its effectiveness is about 94%.
In addition to these two vaccines, the coronavirus vaccine “Sputnik V” of the Gamaleya Institute in Russia has been approved in Russia, and its effectiveness is about 91.4%.
According to Zheng Zhongwei, at present, 15 vaccines in China have entered clinical trials, of which 5 have entered the third phase of clinical trials. Zheng Zhongwei said that after the disclosure of the three-phase data or terminal data, the State Food and Drug Administration will certainly promote the relevant registration review and approval work relatively quickly, and at that time, it will certainly promote the market of vaccines in China.
Have the vaccinators had side effects?
According to USA Today, at least two Britons and several Americans have had a strong allergic reaction to Pfizer vaccine since the vaccination was launched.
Ryan, head of the British Health Care Regulatory Authority, said in a statement earlier that anyone with a history of vaccines, drugs or food allergies should not be vaccinated against Pfizer.
The federal government said that the coronavirus vaccine is safe for those who have not previously had an allergic reaction to the ingredients of the vaccine.
Experts are currently studying why vaccinators have allergic reactions, but the study is still in its infancy, officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNBC on December 21.
It is reported that three trials of Pfizer and Modena vaccine have pointed out that there may be fatigue, muscle soreness, headaches, etc. Some experts point out that these side effects are normal and similar to the possible side effects of influenza vaccination, which may mean that the body of the vaccinator is responding to the vaccine.
How is the WHO vaccine plan?
On December 18, the World Health Organization said that the Global Coronavirus Vaccine Program (COVAX) has ensured access to 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and is expected to begin distribution to participating economies in the program in the first quarter of 2021.
Under the plan, all participating economies can get enough vaccines to prioritize medical staff by mid-2021, and all participating economies will receive enough vaccines to cover 20% of the population by the end of 2021, and the proportion will increase further by 2022.
In addition, COVAX has obtained the priority to buy about 1 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine in 2021 through relevant agreements.
WHO Director-General Tedros Tedros said on the same day that this is a “milestone” for global health, “which gives us comfort that we have seen the dawn of ending this global pandemic, but we still cannot relax our vigilance at present.”
The Global Coronavirus Vaccine Program is a vaccine project jointly launched by WHO, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and the Alliance for Innovation in Epidemic Prevention. Its goal is to provide 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world by 2021, focusing on ensuring that people in poor and middle-income countries also have access to vaccines.
At present, 190 economies have participated in the plan, including 98 high-income economies and 92 low- and middle-income economies. However, Reuters recently reported that insiders revealed that the plan may be “risk of failure” due to lack of funds, supply risks, etc.
