The government hopes to speed up the vaccination process in January with the approval of new vaccines against COVID-19

The government hopes that more vaccines against COVID-19 will be approved in early 2021, so about four to five possible antidotes to the virus would be used to immunize the population, which would advance a cessation of the pandemic in Puerto Rico. Rico.

The initial projection was that by September of this year the “necessary” population would be immunized, according to Irisa Cardona, Undersecretary of Health and José Reis, Assistant General of the National Guard. However, this process could be speeded up with the arrival of more vaccines.

“The supply was increasing in 2021. There are other vaccines in clinical trials, vaccines that may be approved in the next three months, so there is a range of possibilities,” Cardona said.

It is public that AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax have vaccines in Phase 3 trials, the last stage before seeking federal government approval. There are also other vaccines in addition in clinical studies.

This week, Johnson & Johnson announced that it has enrolled about 45,000 participants in the final stage of its vaccine study, which will only require one dose. The expectation is that the results will be by the end of January and that in February they will apply to the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (USA).

Meanwhile, a vaccine developed by Oxford in collaboration with AstraZeneca could be approved and ready for distribution in the UK in late December. The same happened with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, which was first endorsed in this country before in the United States.

Of Otraparte, two of the three planned late-stage efficacy trials for the vaccine being developed by Novavax are enrolled and to date doses have been administered to more than 20,000 participants.

“The idea is that there are not two, but four or five (vaccines against COVID-19) by the beginning of the year. Many vaccines are needed to cover the world’s population. The more they are approved, the safer and more effective they are. , helps the goal of vaccinating (more people) as quickly as possible, “said Dr. Victor Ramos, president of the Medical College.

At first, the pediatrician commented that Moderna vaccines are expected to arrive in Puerto Rico this week. On Friday, the FDA authorized the U.S. inoculation developed by Modern and the National Institutes of Health. Yesterday General Gustave Perna, director of Operation Warp Speed, announced that shipments of this second vaccine to receive the US in the United States were being packaged to begin distribution today. Operation Warp Speed ​​is a public-private effort driven by the federal government to accelerate the development, manufacture and distribution of these vaccines.

Similarly, phase 1-A of the vaccine occurs in Puerto Rico, administered to hospital staff, health care workers, and institutionalized older adults. Cardona anticipated that this phase could run for four to eight weeks, depending on the amount of vaccine expense payment that arrives in Puerto Rico.