The first vaccines should be available on the European market shortly. Which ones will Luxembourg have access to?
How is the effectiveness of a vaccine assessed? Why are vaccination centres needed?
Luxembourg will buy its Covid-19 vaccines through the EU Commission.
The EU Commission has entered contracts with six different producers, for a total of up to 2 billion doses, provided the vaccines are secure and effective.
The most promising ones, which may be available within months, are Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
They have completed the decisive 3rd test phase and shown very good effectiveness.
Two of the three producers are planning to release 520 million doses before the end of the year, with 5 billion more doses to follow in 2021.
What's the approval process for the European market?
Approval is granted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). It has introduced a rolling review for the vaccines, allowing it to receive the latest data as the tests progress, rather than waiting until the end of the procedure. This accelerates the approval processes without skipping any steps.
The EU Commission expects that the first vaccines may be available as soon as mid-December. This would include some 45,000 doses for Luxembourg.
The effectiveness of the 3 vaccines ranges from 62% to 95%. What does this mean?
This denotes the protective effect of the vaccine. It is determined by giving the vaccine to thousands of people during the 3rd test phase. The same number of people receive a placebo and form the control group. Then the number of people who contract the virus is tracked.
In the case of the Moderna vaccine, 95 people got infected, of which only 5 had received the vaccine. This means that the risk of infection for vaccinated test subjects was around 94.5% smaller than for those without the vaccine. This is a very high success rate according to medical experts, though the vaccine is likely to lose some of its effectiveness outside of the test parameters.
The BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine is reported to have 95% effectiveness.
The AstraZeneca vaccine had two results of 62% and 90%. This discrepancy is due to different dosages tried by the British-Swedish group.
The World Health Organisation requires a minimum effectiveness of 50% for a Covid-19 vaccine.
Luxembourg could receive 45,000 vaccines by the end of the year, allowing for 22,500 people to be vaccinated. Who will have priority?
Health and care workers will likely be first, which comes to 17,000 people. Those over 65 and vulnerable people will follow, but this could also depend on which vaccine first makes it to market, as some may be less effective on this demographic.
It is important not to forget cross-border workers in our vaccination strategy, says virologist Prof. Dr. Claude P. Müller. They transmit the virus just like everybody else, and many work in the health or retail sector. They should be able to get vaccinated the same as residents.
The government has worked out a vaccination strategy, which currently lies with the Ethics Board.
At least 3 regional vaccination centres are to be set up. Why can't people be vaccinated in hospitals or at their GP?
This would be difficult logistically. The Moderna vaccine, for instance, must be stored at -20°C, the Pfizer/BioNtech one even at -70°C. This requires specialised medical equipment called "ultra low freezers".
Vaccination centres also allow for a maximum of people to be vaccinated as quickly as possible. The administrative procedures are likely to be done digitally, similar to large scale testing now. This should also make it easier to coordinate the second booster vaccine to ensure people receive maximal protection.
There will be no compulsory vaccination. How long will it take for everyone who wants one to get their shot?
This depends on how soon we will have enough doses for everyone, but also the willingness of people to be vaccinated. The Health Directorate expects the Grand Duchy should manage stock and roll outs over the next year.
How long will the vaccine's effectiveness last?
Hard to say, especially for the new vaccines by Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna, which are based on an entirely new technology.
There is also the risk that the virus will mutate fast and we will need a new vaccine every year, similar to the seasonal flu.
Currently this doesn't look to be the case, says Prof. Dr. Müller, but it could still change. It is hard to predict the dynamic of the novel Coronavirus at this point.
