Although there are many effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines around the world, the preferred vaccine is the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. For that and more stories, read on.
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Although there are many effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines around the world, the preferred vaccine is the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. For that and more stories, read on.
Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccines is Leading COVID-19 Vaccine Globally
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the preferred COVID-19 vaccine globally is the Pfizer-BioNTech shots. Even companies offering other vaccines are moving away from them toward the Pfizer-BioNTech regimen, and Argentina went so far as to rewrite a vaccine-purchasing law so it could ink an agreement with Pfizer.
“Everyone wants to get the best vaccine,” said Wanderson de Oliveira, an epidemiologist and former senior official with Brazil’s Ministry of Health. Brazil was previously focused on using China-based Sinovac’s vaccine, CoronaVac, but is now pushing Pfizer-BioNTech. “Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine presents superior results in relation to other vaccines.”
To date, Pfizer has delivered more than 1.6 billion doses to more than 130 countries. There is still quite a bit of demand for other vaccines globally.
Moderna Plans to Keep its mRNA Vaccine Recipe In-House
There has been some pressure on the COVID-19 vaccine companies to offer their vaccine formulations to other firms. Moderna indicated it does not plan to share its recipe. After looking at the situation, its executives concluded that the best way to increase the global supply of their vaccine was to scale up its own production. However, they have repeated a pledge they made a year ago not to enforce patent infringement against companies making a COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic.
“We didn’t have to do that,” said Noubar Afeyan, Moderna’s Chairman of the Board. “We think that was the right, responsible thing to do. We want that to be helping the world.”
U.S. Government to Oversee Distribution of GSK and Vir’s Antibody Treatment
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that it would be handling the distribution of GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology’s antibody treatment for COVID-19. Dubbed sotrovimab, the U.S. government recently finalized a deal with the companies worth $280 million. In an SEC filing, Vir reported binding agreements for the sale of more than 420,000 doses globally, “including a portion of those procured by the U.S. government.” Also, more than 220,000 doses have been locked up with other deals.
Nichi Glucan Food Supplements Appear to Manage Cytokine Storm and Coagulopathy
In a pilot study in Japan, two variants of Nichi Glucan food supplements appeared to help control cytokine storm and coagulopathy, two major life-threatening complications of COVID-19. The immune parameters were ratios of neutrophil to lymphocyte (NLR), lymphocyte to c-reactive protein (LCR) and leucocyte to c-reactive protein (LeCR), which were “advantageous” in people who consumed Nichi Glucans. There were also improvements in CD4 and CD8 immune levels.
The food products include the AFO-202 strain of Black Yeast Aureobasidium Pullulans, which produced Nichi-Glucan, and N-163 strain that produced Nichi-Glucan REFIX.
FDA Panel Meets this Week to Discuss Moderna and J&J Booster Shots
The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Products Advisory Committee is meeting on Thursday, October 14, to discuss the Moderna booster shots and Friday, October 15, to discuss the Johnson & Johnson booster shots. They will likely decide within days, then turn it over to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its own vaccine advisory committee to make their decision.
“Even with delta, the current vaccines are holding up quite well as far as hospitalization and severe disease,” said Norman Baylor, former director of the FDA’s vaccines office. “It’s the infections that seem to be a concern.”
India Regulators Approve Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for 2-18-Year-Olds
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin was approved for children 2 to 18 years of age in India. The approval was made by the Subject Expert Committee and thoroughly reviewed by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). An official reported that the vaccine’s efficacy in children was similar to what was observed in adults. This is an emergency use authorization. The vaccine’s inclusion in the country’s national vaccination program hasn’t occurred yet. Covaxin is the second vaccine against COVID-19 to be granted emergency use authorization for children in India. The first was Zydus Healthcare’s ZyCoV-D.
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