WHO listed AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as emergency use

WHO listed AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as emergency use.  WHO has included AstraZeneca AZD1222 in the emergency use list: regular cold storage, 2-dose immunization, and no profit supply worldwide!

At present, the COVID-19 pneumonia epidemic is still spreading rapidly. As of 22:00 on February 16, 2021, there have been more than 100 million confirmed cases (10976 million) worldwide, and more than 2.42 million deaths.

Recently, AstraZeneca issued an announcement stating that the adenovirus vaccine COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca (formerly known as AZD1222) developed by the company and Oxford University has been included in the Emergency Use List (EUL) by the World Health Organization (WHO). Actively immunize people 18 years and older (including the elderly over 65 years old) to prevent COVID-19.

It is worth mentioning that the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored, transported and processed under conventional refrigeration conditions (2-8°C/36-46°F) for at least 6 months and used in the existing medical environment.

The authorization of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca vaccine produced by AstraZeneca and the COVISHIELD vaccine produced by the Serological Institute of India (SII) (the trade name of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca vaccine in India) will enable the world to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Get this vaccine.

EUL allows 2 doses of vaccine every 4-12 weeks. Clinical trials have shown that the program is safe and effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19. 14 days after the second injection, no serious cases and hospitalizations occurred. The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Immunization Experts (SAGE) recommends that the injection interval be 8-12 weeks. In addition, they also recommend using this vaccine in countries where new variants (including South Africa B1.351 variants) are endemic.

AstraZeneca has pledged to provide its COVID-19 vaccine to as many countries as possible during the pandemic without making any profit. In June 2020, the company announced that it had signed a sub-licencing agreement with SII to produce and supply up to 1 billion doses of vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

AstraZeneca is the first global pharmaceutical company to join COVAX (WHO’s New coronavirus Pneumonia Vaccine Implementation Plan) in June 2020. This global mechanism is working hard to accelerate the development and production of new COVID-19 tools, and make all participating countries, regardless of income level, have fair access to these tools throughout the world.

Now, AstraZeneca and SII will work with COVAX Facility to start supplying vaccines around the world, most of which will be shipped to low- and middle-income countries as soon as possible. In the first half of 2021, COVAX is expected to provide more than 300 million doses of vaccine to 145 countries. These doses will be distributed fairly according to the COVAX distribution framework.

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said: “Today’s approval recognizes that this vaccine can be used to help protect the world’s population, including the elderly over 65, and in countries where different variants of SARS-CoV-2 are endemic. This is a big step towards ensuring global access to our vaccines and helping us fulfill our public health commitment to achieve widespread, fair, and unprofitable access to vaccines during a pandemic.”

Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer of the Serum Institute of India (SII), said: “We have been waiting for this final milestone. I am delighted and gratified that with the WHO’s EUL, we will be able to immediately start marketing to Africa and other countries. Vaccines are delivered to low- and middle-income countries. Countries with large populations must be protected as soon as possible.”

COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca (formerly AZD1222) was invented by Oxford University and its spin-off company Vaccitech. It uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee virus vector based on a weakened version of the common cold virus (adenovirus), which causes infection in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. After vaccination, a surface spike protein is produced, which stimulates the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The approval of the World Health Organization (WHO) is based on a meta-analysis of the efficacy of 11,636 participants aged 18 years and over. These participants came from the Phase III trials conducted by the University of Oxford in the UK and Brazil, accumulating 131 cases of symptoms. COVID-19 infection. Overall safety is based on an interim analysis of pooled data from four clinical trials conducted in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa, which included 23,745 participants aged 18 years or older. AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is well tolerated and no serious safety incidents related to the vaccine have occurred. Participants come from different ethnic and geographic groups, they are healthy or have stable underlying diseases.

In addition to the program led by Oxford University, AstraZeneca is also conducting large-scale experiments in the United States and around the world. Oxford University and AstraZeneca are expected to enroll as many as 60,000 subjects worldwide.

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has obtained conditional marketing approval or emergency use in more than 50 countries, and now WHO EUL will accelerate the access to this vaccine in as many as 145 countries through the COVAX Facility.

(source:internet, reference only)

Disclaimer of medicaltrend.org