In the midst of the controversy over the possible application of a single dose of the Sputnik V vaccine, an idea that secretary Carla Vizzotti slipped and was later dismissed from within the Government itself, the Buenos Aires Minister of Health, Daniel Gollán, also rejected that possibility. and spoke of the importance of the two applications.
Asked about this initiative, the minister was exhaustive: “With Sputnik, 15 million treatments will be received, that is, 30 million vaccines, and that can not be done. Because the two vectors are different and must be given in that sequence. With all Gamaleya vaccines, you cannot do that scheme. “
However, Gollan cited the example of England, which is experimenting with postponing the second dose due to the advance of infections. “In other countries, such as England, as they are very lacking in vaccine, they have decided to postpone the second dose to three months and not to 28 days. We will have to see the results.”
The Secretary of Access to Health had assured that it was not ruled out to apply a single dose of Sputnik V with the aim of reaching 20 million immunized by March. By this he suggested that they were thinking of “have 20 million people” partially immunized instead of 10 million with the two full doses, as appropriate.
Carla Vizzotti had slipped the idea of applying just one dose of Sputnik. Photo: Marcelo Carroll
His statements, published Monday by the newspaper Page 12, generated debate and cross statements even in the government itself. Even the scientific community rejected this proposal.
“We know that the efficacy with the two doses exceeds 90%, but The detail of what happens only with the first one is not published“said Eduardo López, infectologist at the Ricardo Gutiérrez Hospital and a member of the committee that advises the President.
Arnaldo Casiró, head of Infectious Diseases at Hospital Álvarez, agrees that there is a lack of clarification on effectiveness and that there is no scientific paper available to analyze possibilities and understand the new health strategy.
“Two doses are given for a reason, because with one they did not achieve the desired results. We are talking about two different components. First Bd26 and then Bd5. Only with both would exceed 90% efficiency. That is what they say, because we still do not have phase 3 data published in a scientific journal, that is a problem for me ”, added Casiró.
As the hours passed, the idea was generating controversy and doubts among the experts. The case ended up unleashing a storm of criticism that was difficult to contain even for Alberto Fernández himself. Perhaps for this reason, Vizzotti herself had to go out to clarify early on Tuesday that the Government will respect the application of the two doses per person (the first and the complementary one) proposed by the Russian development.
In fact, Vizzotti had to clarify all this on Twitter after a strong position from President Fernández leaked to the press that Vizzotti, simply and simply, had been wrong with his sayings. “What he said is wrong, he was wrong,” Fernández told one of his ministers.
This Thursday, a new Aerolineas Argentinas flight will depart for Moscow to bring to the country the 300,000 doses of the second component of the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, the first dose of which is already being applied in all provinces.
Gollan’s message continues to be “don’t relax”, beyond the vaccine. “You do not have to relax. This is day by day. And you have to wait for the vaccine, which is coming,” he said in Radio With You.
In this sense, he was optimistic for what is to come: “If we share care with vaccines, in six or seven months the reality begins to be very different. But during those months we already have a very different reality from last year, with economic activity , cultural, educational. With care we can do many things. Next year is going to be another summer, with less care, obviously if there is no Tuesday the 13th or a rare mutation. “
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