RACE TO THE FINISH

Two large pharmaceutical companies have sprinted ahead in the extraordinary race for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla sold US$5.6 million in stocks the day he announced their COVID-19 vaccine may be 90 per cent effective, which put the vaccine at the head of the COVID-19 vaccine race back in November. Pfizer’s stagethree trials showed the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine to be 90 per cent effective with no serious side effects. Developed by Professor Uğur Şahin, who heads the German company BioNTech, the vaccine started being rolled out in the UK after a temporary authorisation for emergency use for the vaccine, known as BNT162b2, against COVID-19 was issued, with frontline health staff, those over 80, and care home workers being first to get the vaccine. Şahin says side effects of the vaccine, administered in two jabs 21 days apart, are mild to moderate pain in the injection site for a few days, and a mild to moderate fever for one or two days.

The phase three clinical trial of BNT162b2 began on 27 July and has enrolled more than 43,538 participants – 38,955 of whom have received a second dose of the vaccine candidate on 8 November. Pfizer and BioNTech will continue to accumulate safety data for two months following the second (and final) dose as well as running a pilot programme in some US states. Additionally, participants will continue to be monitored for long-term protection and safety for an additional two years after their second dose. Based on current projections, Pfizer expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.

Another biotechnology firm in the vaccine race is Moderna, which, in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has final trial results showing it has 94 per cent efficacy and nobody who was vaccinated with it developed severe disease. Moderna, based in Massachusetts, has received US$2.48 billion in US federal funds and was a key part of the Trump Administration’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’. A few weeks after Pfizer reported that their coronavirus vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective, Moderna reported that its coronavirus vaccine is found to be 94.5 per cent effective. The US company has submitted the data to the regulators in the US, Europe and the UK to be considered for an emergency license.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the first using messenger RNA technology approved for human use by the US Food and Drug Administration. Traditional vaccines often use a weakened or dead version of a virus, or a laboratory-generated protein. However, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use the virus’s genetic code to instruct cells to build the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus.

Research published by the University of Otago has confirmed the COVID-19 lockdown had a significant toll on New Zealanders’ wellbeing but the results were not all negative. The researchers asked Kiwis about their levels of stress, anxiety and depression, about the state of their family relationships and whether there were any positive outcomes from lockdown. They found almost a third of participants experienced mental distress during the lockdown, but that many people also experienced some form of ‘silver linings’. head Psychological University almost said 30 severe per Dr their of psychological cent Susanna 40 the level per of reported Department Otago, Medicine cent of Every-Palmer, wellbeing of Wellington, distress moderate those at of the surveyed was and the to low, says 16 per of successfully anxiety. cent had “New eliminated moderate Zealand’s to COVID-19 high lockdown levels from show the this community, achievement but brought our results a significant psychological toll,” Every-Palmer says. “Substantially increased rates of distress were seen among those who reported having lost their jobs or experienced a reduction in work as a result of the pandemic, those who had potential vulnerabilities to COVID-19, or identified their health status as poor, and those who had a past diagnosis of a mental illness.” They also found that the level of mental distress was much higher in younger adults, with almost half of those aged between 18 and 24 experiencing moderate to severe psychological distress compared with less than one in 10 adults aged 65 years and older. Every-Palmer says the lower level of mental distress among older people likely results from higher baseline levels of wellbeing. It may also reflect the resilience they have developed through overcoming past adversities and the fact that they were experiencing fewer daily disruptions and economic impacts as a result of lockdown. “Older people may also have felt they were safer in New Zealand than elsewhere.” Every-Palmer says not all the consequences of the lockdown were negative, with 62 per cent of respondents saying they enjoyed the ‘silver linings’ experienced during lockdown, including working from home, spending more time with family, and living in a quieter, less-polluted environment. “People reported taking the opportunity to pause, reflect, consider priorities, recreate healthy habits, and they appreciated the environmental benefits brought by reduced travel.” governments Going forward, should Every-Palmer make providing says mental health support a similar priority to other health measures, such as contact tracing, provision of personal protective equipment and procurement of ventilators. Supporting the population’s psychological wellbeing includes ensuring accurate information, people have ready basic access to necessities and community connection as well as specialist mental health services, she says, as well as free access to high quality e-therapies and telehealth support.