America decides to give poorer countries access to vaccine patents

Study: The Pfizer / Bionic vaccine "protects 95%" from "Corona"

After 14 days, the vaccine protection against infection increased to 96.5% and death protection to 98%.

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The largest study on the ground, so far, on the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine, confirmed yesterday that the vaccine provided more than 95% protection against the emerging kurna virus (Covid-19), but it found that its level decreased dramatically when it received People only have one dose of the two recommended doses, while the US President, Joe Biden, the day before yesterday, expressed his support for waiving the intellectual property rights for the "Covid-19" vaccines.

In detail, a study said that the "Pfizer / Biontec" vaccine "protects 95%" from "Corona", and its authors confirmed, based on the national vaccination campaign in Israel, that there is realistic evidence that the epidemic can be eliminated through vaccination programs. Fast global.

An analysis of health data from Israel, one of the countries with the highest percentage of fully vaccinated adults, showed that the vaccine was very effective in protecting the elderly, while the British version of the most contagious epidemic was the dominant one, according to results published in the medical journal The Lancet. .

By the beginning of April, nearly five million people in Israel had received two doses of the Pfizer / Bionic vaccine, more than 70% of the population.

The study found that two doses provided protection from infection of 95.3%, and protection from death of 96.7%, seven days after the second dose.

After 14 days, this protection increased to 96.5% and 98%, respectively.

However, protection was much lower in people who received only one dose of the vaccine.

After the first dose, between seven and 14 days, the infection protection rate was 57.7% and the death protection rate was 77%.

The study authors said that a single dose may provide a shorter window of protection, especially in an environment where new variants of the virus appear.

This comes at a time when President Biden expressed his support for waiving intellectual property rights for "Covid-19" vaccines, to yield to increasing pressure from Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 other countries, but his decision angered pharmaceutical companies.

Biden expressed his support for a temporary waiver of rights, in a radical change of the previous US position, after a speech he gave at the White House, which was quickly followed by an official statement from the chief trade negotiator, Catherine Tay.

Tai said in a statement: “This is a global health crisis and the exceptional circumstances of the (Covid-19) pandemic call for exceptional measures.” Her statements came amid growing concern about the spread of the disease in India, which could allow the emergence of vaccine-resistant strains of the deadly virus, which could undermine Global recovery.

Shares of a number of vaccine manufacturers "Covid-19" declined after the news circulated, and two of the largest American vaccine manufacturers, namely, Pfizer and Moderna.

Biden's move won praise from the Director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who described it on Twitter as "a historic moment in the battle against (Covid-19)."

A senior administration official said that the administration informed the pharmaceutical companies, which had made significant revenues and profits during the crisis, of their plans before the announcement.

And the biggest lobby group in the pharmaceutical industry has warned that Biden's unprecedented move will undermine the companies' response to the pandemic and put safety at risk.

For her part, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said yesterday that the European Union is ready to discuss waiving intellectual property protection for vaccines against "Covid-19".

The head of the executive arm of the European Union said during a press conference, "The European Union is also ready to discuss any proposals that address the crisis in an effective and practical way."

"That is why we are ready to discuss how the US proposal to waive intellectual property protection for (Covid-19) vaccines can help achieve this goal," she said.

Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his support for the idea of ​​canceling patents for "Covid" vaccines, and urged his government to consider canceling them for Russian vaccines.

Putin said in a televised meeting: "We hear from Europe an idea that, in my opinion, deserves attention, which is to cancel the patents on vaccines against (Covid-19) altogether," adding that "Russia will definitely support such a step."

Yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his "full support for lifting the intellectual property" of vaccines against the "Corona" virus, after he had been conservative, until now, after the announcement of the US President, Joe Biden, in this sense.

The draft final decisions of the "Group of Twenty" summit indicated that the leaders of the member states will commit for the first time to providing full funding for the World Health Organization's plan to distribute "Covid-19" vaccines and drugs to poor countries, in a step that will allow the use of nearly 20 billion dollars.

Positive results from the trials of "Moderna" regarding a third dose of its vaccine

The American "Moderna" group of biotechnology published, the day before yesterday, the first positive results related to the experiments of a modified version of its vaccine, which was specially developed against the South African mutated from the Corona virus, as well as the effect of a third dose of its first vaccine against "Covid-19" .

"We were encouraged by this new data, which strengthens our confidence, on the idea that our strategy for boosting dosage should provide protection against these new mutations," Moderna's president, Stephane Bansel, said in a statement. Forty people who had received two doses of the "Moderna" vaccine, six to eight months before these trials, participated in it. Some received a third dose of a new formula developed against the South African version, while others received a third dose of the primary vaccine. Moderna said that these two options: "They have increased the levels of antibodies against (SARS-Cove-2), and two copies (of the virus) are of concern," South Africa and Brazil. She added that the vaccine formula, which was specially developed against the South African version of the Corona virus, was more effective than the original vaccine against it. Moderna is based on RNA technology.

Bancil said that this technology "allows the rapid manufacture of candidate vaccines that include the main variants of the virus, which may allow faster development of alternative vaccines in the future" against possible new mutations.

Washington - AFP

Germany: Exemptions from Corona restrictions granted to vaccinated and recovered people

Yesterday, the German parliament approved, by a large majority, a decree of the German government to exempt those who have been fully vaccinated against "Corona" and those recovering from "Covid-19" disease, from many restrictions on combating the Corona epidemic.

The ruling coalition parties (Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, his younger brother, the Bavarian Christian Social Party, and the Social Democratic Party), as well as the Greens and the Left, voted in favor of the decree.

On the other hand, the FDP abstained from the vote, while the Alternative for Germany party opposed the government decree.

The decree can enter into force tomorrow, after approval by the Council of States today.

Berlin - D.A.

- The

final draft final decisions of the "G20" summit clarified the commitment to provide full funding for the vaccination distribution plan.

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