The Medicines Agency will decide on the AstraZeneca application before the end of January
The European Union is considering adopting a third vaccine against "Corona"
During the vaccination operations with the "AstraZeneca" vaccine in Britain.
A.F.B.
Yesterday, the European Union began the process of approving a third vaccine against the emerging corona virus (Covid-19), and the European Medicines Agency promised to speed up the timetable to discuss the approval of the application submitted by AstraZeneca, to obtain a license for a vaccine that it developed with the University of Oxford, and the agency stated that The decision will be issued by the end of January, despite the start of the use of the vaccine in countries including Britain. If approved, it will become the third vaccine to be approved in the European Union, as the agency approved in previous times the vaccines of "Pfizer - Biontech" and "Moderna", which carried The European Commission is to give the green light to distribute them immediately.
The agency indicated that it would conduct a rapid audit of the "AstraZeneca / Oxford" vaccine, if all the data it received was robust and sufficiently complete.
The Chairperson of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, welcomed the submission of an application for a license for the "AstraZeneca / Oxford" vaccine, describing it as "good news", and said in a tweet on the social networking site "Twitter": "As soon as the vaccine receives a positive scientific response, we will act as soon as possible." Could allow it to be used in Europe ».
The AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine is less expensive to produce than its competitors.
It is also easier to store and transport, especially than the Pfizer - Biontech vaccine, which requires storage at a very low temperature (-70 degrees Celsius).
The "AstraZeneca / Oxford" vaccine is a "viral vector" vaccine that takes another virus that has been transformed and adapted to fight "Covid-19", and its effectiveness reached 90% in volunteers who received half a dose at the beginning, then a full dose after a month, but it was only 62%. For another group, they were vaccinated with a higher quantity, i.e. two full doses at a one-month interval.
In Switzerland, the authorities announced, yesterday, the approval of the use of the "Moderna" vaccine, against the Coronavirus, after the European Union agreed, last week, to use the vaccine.
The vaccine, developed by the American company Moderna, is being manufactured at Lonza, in western Switzerland, which plans to produce 300 million doses by the end of the year, while another 100 million doses of the vaccine, which must be received, are manufactured in the United States of America.
Switzerland, which has a population of 8.6 million, has requested 7.7 million doses of Moderna, in addition to three million doses of the vaccine developed by the two companies, Pfizer-Biontech, which was approved for use last December, and Switzerland has requested 5.3 Millions of doses of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine.
In addition, Indian Airlines began transporting doses of vaccines against "Covid-19" disease, to various parts of the country, yesterday, in preparation for vaccinating 1.3 billion people, in a campaign described by officials as the largest in the world.
The authorities hope to vaccinate 300 million citizens, who are among the most vulnerable groups, within six to eight months.
The campaign is scheduled to start next Saturday.
The first to receive the vaccination is about 30 million health sector workers, and others who are in the front lines of facing the pandemic, followed by about 270 million, over the age of 50, or are among the most vulnerable groups.
Yesterday, the government of India signed agreements with the Indian Serum Institute to purchase its production of the Coffeeshield vaccine, more than a week after approval of the use of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in Britain.
India has recorded nearly 10.5 million cases of the virus, which is the second largest number of cases of corona in the world after the United States, but the rate of increase in cases is declining, during the last period.
International experts arrive in Wuhan tomorrow to investigate the origin of "Corona"
Beijing announced, yesterday, that experts from the World Health Organization will arrive in Wuhan, China, tomorrow, to investigate the origin of the emerging corona virus (Covid-19) epidemic, and the investigators' task does not aim to identify those responsible, but to know how the virus transmitted from the bat to humans , In order to avoid the emergence of a similar new epidemic.
"These are the answers we are seeking, not the perpetrators or the accused," said the organization's director of health emergencies, Michael Ryan.
The mission consists of 10 scientists from several countries. A member of the World Health Organization’s mission, Marion Copmans, told Chinese television "CGTN" that the team would be "open to all assumptions."
She added: "I do not think that we should exclude anything, but it is important to start from Wuhan, where the epidemic appeared."
Beijing - agencies
Record casualties toll in Israel
Yesterday, the Israeli Ministry of Health announced the registration of a new record number of daily infections with the Coronavirus, despite the imposition of a third general closure.
The ministry recorded 9,589 new cases of corona, within 24 hours.
The rate of positive tests was 7.6%.
The total number of people infected with the virus so far in Israel, which has a population of 9.2 million, has exceeded half a million.
Since last Friday morning, all schools and kindergartens in Israel have been closed, except for private education.
Israelis will also be banned, for a period of two weeks, from moving beyond one kilometer from their homes, with exceptions.
The restrictions include closing businesses such as shopping centers, and preventing restaurants from providing any services except for order delivery.
Capitals - agencies
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