Mexico began vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine on Christmas Eve. The nurse, María Irene Ramírez, was the first to receive the vaccine in Latin America. Others in Chile and Costa Rica received the vaccine later the same day.
Ecuador and Colombia have approved and reached deals with Pfizer to begin vaccination in January and February respectively.
Argentina has approved the Pfizer vaccine, but currently has stocks only of the Russian Sputnik vaccine. Vaccination has not yet begun and plans still in the works ambito.com/politica/vacun…
Here's more on plans on vaccination from Colombia and Ecuador
"The BNT162b mRNA vaccine...is 4284 characters long, so it would fit in a bunch of tweets" berthub.eu/articles/posts…
"RNA is the volatile ‘working memory’ version of DNA. DNA is like the flash drive storage of biology. DNA is very durable, internally redundant and very reliable...computers do not execute code directly from a flash drive...[they use a]faster, more versatile [but] fragile system"
Pregnant women were not specifically included in trials, but as supported by professional societies, including the @acog
and @mySFM,
they can choose to take the vaccine, particularly in consultation with their own doctor.
The European CDC has a straightforward threat assessment on the new COVID strain reported in the UK: ecdc.europa.eu/en/publication…
"preliminary analysis in the UK suggests that this variant is significantly more transmissible than previously circulating variants, with an estimated potential to increase the reproductive number (R) by 0.4 or greater with an estimated increased transmissibility of up to 70%."
Importantly, though:
"This new variant has emerged at a time of the year when there has traditionally been increased family and social mixing.
There is no indication at this point of increased infection severity associated with the new variant."
Concerns over new UK COVID strain has led to travel limitations from the UK:
- Netherlands and Belgium suspended flights
- Trains to Belgium banned
- Italy, France, Germany planning similar action
- Even Scotland has extended travel ban with rest of UK
Given COVID associated interruptions in vaccination, we may see more vaccine derived poliovirus circulating in communities as more do not have expected immunity.
Equity in vaccinations will be an ongoing issue - first line healthcare vs other providers, older adults, teachers, who are essential. Those in more senior positions may be prioritized by age over those in more junior positions.
Hospitals are already grappling with these issues.
On paper prioritizing vaccination for those who are older can seem fair, but means those exposed to COVID the most may not be the first to be vaccinated (ie residents, younger ED/ICU staff).
Primary care also sees a lot of COVID before it is identified and when it is most infectious. A patient sick on day 20 of illness may not be producing any infectious virus. The mother accompanying her child to the pediatrician may be even more infectious but unaware.