Preference can be given to Chinese vaccine

Baku/17.12.20/Turan: Thanks to the special attention and care of our president, our country will become one of the first countries to introduce the vaccine, Ramin Bayramli, Chairman of the Board of TƏBIB, said on December 15 at a briefing of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers on vaccines against the new type of coronavirus. According to him, the question of which vaccine is the safest and most effective is in the spotlight. Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Gasimov said, "The vaccine will be delivered to the country that will go through the third phase the fastest." However, the briefing focused on the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine.

Adil Allahverdiev, the director of the Research Institute for Medical Prevention named after Vali Akhundov,  said that the vaccine mentioned above is about 95-97% effective. “Turkey is also participating in the third phase of research. This vaccine is being administered to thousands of people and its effect is being tested. The vaccine's effects are promising today. China is a leader in developing inactivated vaccines, and it will bring them to market faster. Turkey has also moved into the second phase of preparing a vaccine against coronavirus. Other vaccines are new, not traditional. Therefore, the vaccine made in China is safer. Later will be announced how many months this vaccine will last."

At the briefing, the TƏBIB chair said that Azerbaijan is fully ready for the cold chain for traditional vaccination. The Deputy Minister of Health noted that vaccination in Azerbaijan would be free. Taking into account that Turkey has already received 50 million Chinese-made vaccines, and the UK and Russia have already begun vaccination, is Azerbaijan lagging behind in this process? What country should the vaccine come from? Are the conditions for vaccination and storage of the vaccine to be imported into the country created? Most importantly, will the vaccine be really free, as it was said at the briefing, taking into account the artificial increase in the price of drugs in recent days?

Member of the Milli Majlis Health Committee, Mushfig Mammadli, told Turan that, both in the fight against the pandemic and in the fight against viral infections in general, there are several methods, and now the vaccine has become an important factor. "Among these methods of control are drugs that are used directly against the pathogen. The second is protective measures. The third is vaccination. Currently, in the fight against a new coronavirus infection, the two factors we have listed have a certain effect. However, the means at hand are drugs. We cannot achieve sufficient effect, although this effect is achieved through quarantine measures, these measures create certain problems from a socio-psychological point of view.

Even from an economic point of view, quarantine measures require large sacrifices from both the state and society. From this point of view, vaccination as a third measure occupies an important place both in Azerbaijan and in world practice. Therefore, the world community, public health authorities have mobilized all opportunities during a pandemic to find a vaccine. "

The MP noted that vaccinations against coronavirus in Azerbaijan, first, would be applied to people at risk. “If we look at the recommendations of the World Health Organization, including the experience of leading countries in the fight against the pandemic, then at present, the target group for vaccination, first of all, are health workers who are at risk, then citizens over 65 years, and then citizens with chronic diseases,” he said.

M. Mammadli said that vaccines against viral infections, especially vaccines designed to combat viruses containing RNT, are divided into three groups. "The first group includes vaccines, the pathogen of which is weakened, inactivated. Vaccines made using informational RNT, which is a carrier of genetic material that is an active part in the transmission of the disease, and vaccines made using another carrier of this information, which does not cause harm the human body - adenoviruses into which this genetic material was transferred.

There is currently a coronavirus vaccine in the United States developed by Pfizer in conjunction with a German company. There are also vaccines developed by China and developed by Russia. The vaccine developed by China is made by the traditional method; its pathogen is weakened and inactivated. The vaccine developed in the USA belongs to the RNT group of vaccines. The Russian vaccine Sputnik-V is a vaccine developed using adenovirus, which we call the third group. "

According to the deputy, these vaccines are vaccines, each of which has its own unique positive and linear percentage of effectiveness. “But the issue of transportation, storage, shelf life of these vaccines, and the effectiveness of the methods used are very important here. It would be wrong to take into account one factor; several factors should be taken into account. For example, the other two groups of vaccines require storage at very high negative temperatures, in a short time, unlike the Chinese vaccine. From this point of view, due to the nature of the health infrastructure, each country must make its own decisions.

Not only the economic aspect, but also risk factors, probable problems for human health should be taken into account. From this point of view, the current Azerbaijani healthcare structure, including the vaccine developed by China taking into account the practice of the Turkish state, carries less risk both in terms of logistics, healthcare structure, and in terms of human health, which makes this vaccine relevant in our country. ... Naturally, there will be studies with other vaccines, but a more viable option that is currently possible is a vaccine developed by China.

M. Mammadli noted that delivery, storage, transportation, safe vaccination is a big process. “The most important process is transportation, delivery of vaccines from one country to another. The cold chain principle is used here. The required temperature from the place of delivery of the vaccine to the moment of its administration, the temperature required for storage (for example, for a Chinese vaccine it is minus 3-4 degrees Celsius), and storage conditions must follow each other in a chain. There can be cases of various negative consequences in the effectiveness of the vaccine or after its application, if one ring of the chain breaks. From this point of view, our structure should be fully prepared for this. We have enough practice in these matters. Because each of these processes, both with the introduction of periodic vaccinations, and with the implementation of our national vaccination calendar, follows an already worked out mechanism.

From this point of view, most of the vaccines used in the current National Vaccination Program are also vaccines made from those attenuated microorganisms that we call storage conditions. Therefore, the health care structures of Azerbaijan are more adapted to this area, both in storage and in the sale of the vaccine developed by China. "Doctor of Medical Sciences Adil Geybulla told Radio Azadlig that Azerbaijan, first of all, should pay attention to the quality of the vaccine. Because although the vaccine that will be imported into the country has few implications, it must be safe for people."

According to the professor, Azerbaijan should strive to get a vaccine jointly produced by the US and Europe. "Because the Russian vaccine was developed on the basis of the mentioned virus, and its effectiveness is not so high. As for the quality of the Chinese vaccine, it may be good, because this country has high-level research institutes, but in China, they can produce the vaccine in different places, which will reduce its effectiveness. Attention should be paid to this."

Geybulla noted that the storage conditions for the vaccine produced in the USA and Europe are somewhat complicated, and at present, there are no such conditions in Azerbaijan. “This vaccine is stored at very high freezing temperatures. There are no such conditions in Azerbaijan yet, but it is worth doing it. Boxes can be created in modular hospitals. The most important thing is that the vaccine is safe. "

Speaking about whether the vaccine is free or not, the professor said that the vaccine should be free or at a symbolic price. "Vaccines are actually not very expensive, the manufacturers have not set a high price for them, and vaccinations can be done free of charge or at a symbolic price. The situation of the population must be taken into account." –0--