Reliability of the AstraZeneca vaccine, availability of Sputnik V and efficacy against variants: virologist Marie-Paule Kiény, president of the Vaccin-19 committee, takes stock of the state of our knowledge as the vaccine campaign must accelerate in France . 

DECRYPTION

"Our fellow citizens are much more interested in being vaccinated than what we feared", welcomes Europe 1 Marie-Paule Kiény, virologist, president of the Vaccin-19 committee, research director of Inserm and former deputy director General of the WHO.

While the confidence of the French in vaccines against Covid-19 was "at an extremely low level" at the end of December, requests for appointments have been pouring in all over the territory since the start of the campaign, which primarily targets vulnerable audiences.

Questions remain, however, as to the differences between the vaccines produced by each laboratory, and their effectiveness, particularly vis-à-vis vaccines.

At the microphone of Europe 1, the specialist takes stock. 

>> LIVE -

Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Sunday February 7

"Not quite clear" data on AstraZeneca

"We must admit that the data available around the AstraZeneca vaccine are not entirely clear," begins Marie-Paule Kiény, citing the main study published on this product.

"This is a large clinical trial, but which included very few elderly people," which is why it is "very difficult to say at this stage whether the vaccine will be effective in those over 65 or over. 'it is not going to be.

In Europe, several countries have therefore decided to reserve this vaccine for people under 65 years of age, "or even under 55", underlines the virologist.

In Switzerland, "the regulatory authorities have even decided to wait for the results of another clinical trial, currently underway in the United States, and which should give results in March". 

Sputnik V, advantages and a "difficulty of use"

As for the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, Marie-Paule Kiény, who visited the Gamaleïa research center in Moscow at the end of its development, said to have "always believed that this vaccine was effective in view of the available data".

'It is not registered and the Medicines Regulatory Authority must be given time to look at the complete dossier, which contains a lot more than just the results of clinical trials and efficacy ", nuance-t- however, an examination that could take "several weeks or even months", even if the prestigious medical journal

The Lancet

judges the vaccine to be more than 91% effective. 

CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS

> The English variant would cause slightly different symptoms

> Not recommended for people over 65, who will be injected with the AstraZeneca vaccine? 

> Audio, webcams ... When technology adapts to teleworking

> Containment is good for the planet

> How will the vaccination passport work in Denmark?

What we already know is that the Russian vaccine, like that of AstraZeneca, has "an advantage of implementation": that of "being able to be kept at a refrigerator temperature".

It has, on the other hand, "a small additional difficulty of use": the two necessary injections "must be made with a different product".

You have to "be sure, when you vaccinate, whether you are giving a first dose or a second dose". 

Decreasing efficiency in the face of variants

But another question arises: what are these two vaccines worth, and those already on the market in France - Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna - in the face of variants of Covid-19?

A "consensus" exists to say that they are effective or that "if there is a loss of effectiveness, it is weak" against the coronavirus and its so-called "English" variant.

But "there are many more uncertainties" concerning other mutations in the disease, according to the specialist. 

Marie-Paule Kiény notably cites the Brazilian and South African variants.

For the latter, "we are starting to have data, and we see, according to clinical trials that have been carried out on populations where this virus circulates, that they are less protective," she says.

"That doesn't mean they aren't at all," but "you could go from a 95% protection level for messenger RNA vaccines to closer to 50% protection, maybe even 40. % for AstraZeneca vaccine. "

Data that the virologist however invites to take "with caution" because they were observed on small samples.