Argentina authorizes Covishield vaccine – The Ministry of Health of Argentina authorized “on an emergency basis” the use of the vaccine against COVID-19 Covishield, produced at the Serum Institute of India, according to a resolution published in the Official Gazette.
Argentina authorizes Covishield vaccine
The authorization, as an “emergency”, bears the signature of the Minister of Health, Ginés González García. The decree highlights that Covishield “results from the development of the production process carried out by the Serum Institute of India in collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, in the context of a technology transfer”.
In this case, its approval focused on “determining that said transfer (of technology) does not impact the quality, safety and efficacy” of the product that has already been approved by 12 countries, in addition to the Indian health authority.
Meets “required standards”
The analyzes carried out concluded “compliance with the standards required by the regulatory authority for manufacturing plants, the development and manufacture of products, their certification in the country of origin and compliance with quality standards, accessing information on their safety and efficacy, as well as indicating that there have been no serious adverse events “.
Nor have significant differences been identified in the efficacy observed in the different age groups that participated in the clinical trials.
The health authorities finally agreed to the authorization “taking into account the current health emergency situation, the international context that limits access to other alternatives due to the global vaccine dispute and to the extent that the known and potential benefits are greater than the known and potential risks to the health of the population “.
Sputnik V
Argentina had already granted its approval to the Sputnik V vaccine, from the Russian laboratory Gamaleya, on December 23, and then extended its application in January to those over 60 years of age. But, unlike the Russian vaccine, Covishield can be stored at standard temperatures.
Sputnik V is so far the only vaccine that the South American country has for its voluntary immunization campaign that began on December 29.
The South American country has so far received 820,000 doses of Sputnik V. And, according to the latest official data, to date a total of 307,326 people have been vaccinated with the first dose (this vaccine requires two doses) and 163,069 people with the second.
Other contracts with AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Gamaleya and COVAX mechanism
According to the Ministry of Health, Argentina has contracts for the provision of vaccines against COVID-19 for some 62.6 million doses from different laboratories.
The minister specified that Argentina has agreements to receive 30 million doses of Sputnik V, 23.6 million of AstraZeneca and nine million through the Covax mechanism, “an international initiative to guarantee a fair distribution of the media against covid-19.
According to these data, the official affirmed that the government hopes to immunize the entire Argentine population over 18 years of age. Since last March, the country has recorded 1,985,484 cases and 49,398 deaths from covid-19 out of a population of 44 million.