Platech, as a biotechnology company wants to provide information and be an educational agent for immunization at the country level that we will face in the coming weeks.
The 3 vaccines approved to date in Chile are generally safe and effective.
BioNtech/Pfizer
It consists of a new type of vaccine, coming from new scientific advances that are very safe and of great quality, which have been perfected for more than 8 years. It corresponds to a type of molecule called mRNA (messenger RNA) which consists, in simple words, of a very small chain with genetic information of the main protein of the virus, SPIKE. This chain enters and instructs our cells to produce the modified SPIKE protein, which is then presented to our body’s immune system. In this way, our system generates antibodies that allow the elimination of any element associated with this protein. It’s an avant-garde vaccine different from the traditional ones, without traces of eggs, latex, and classic preservatives, but it requires more complex storage, for which Chile has the technology to spare.
Sinovac Biotech
Is the Chinese option. This Asian company is a pharmaceutical company with tradition and good results, which has provided us with its vaccines for other pathologies. Please do not consider the classic speech that «since it’s Chinese, it must be bad». We are talking about world scientific standards, not about making pencils. This vaccine is traditional, consisting of the attenuated virus, that is, the same virus, but without the danger. In this way, the immune system recognizes the virus circulating through our system and generates the respective antibodies. It’s made in the classical way in eggs and is easy to store.
AstraZeneca/U. de Oxford
Finally, the British option. This vaccine also uses classic technology, but from a different vector. It consists of a type of adenovirus (different from the coronavirus) that does not have the capacity to infect our system, to which the most relevant protein of the coronavirus, SPIKE, was added with biotechnology techniques. In this way, when we are vaccinated, the immune system recognizes the SPIKE protein present in the adenovirus that circulates through our system and generates the respective antibodies. It is made in the classical way in eggs and is easy to store.
Regarding the percentages that have generated so much revolt from the media, you have to be very careful. The percentages of effectiveness are measures that have been related to the number of patients who become seriously ill after undergoing the vaccine, but NOT with respect to the immunity it generates. Therefore, it depends a lot on the universe of people that were used to take these statistics. In Brazil, for example, the effectiveness analyzes of the SINOVAC vaccine were carried out on health personnel, who were constantly exposed to the virus, in quite poor conditions, adding a variable of contagion and worsening of health.
The 3 vaccines generate immunity and are safe after the two respective doses.
We appreciate the dissemination of this article.
Platech Team
