[최현철의 시선] Reversal of AstraZeneca vaccine… What’s next?

Humans encountered the most powerful virus since the medieval plague and the Spanish flu in the early 20th century. The fight against the Corona 19 virus, which has already passed a year, was a series of reversals.

The most recent reversal is the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the 7th that “the occurrence of rare blood clots should be put on the list of side effects of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine.” The AZ vaccine uses adenovirus, which causes cold in chimpanzees, as a drug carrier (vector). It was evaluated that its safety has been verified by being used in vaccines for 10 diseases such as Ebola. There are factories with production capacity everywhere, and storage and transportation are easy compared to Pfizer and Modena, which have to maintain a cryogenic condition of tens of degrees below zero. We were expected to become a game changer, a weapon to overturn the game, but it suddenly became a headache.

Last year, when information about the virus was scarce and there was no vaccine, the only place to rely on quarantine was quarantine. At that time, Korea made remarkable results. It was worth boasting of’K-Defense’ to the world. Countries that failed to quarantine created a reversal of pride. Thanks to all-in on the vaccine. As a result, a vaccine, which is said to take an average of 10 years or more than 2 years, was made in 6 months. After another 6 months, a clinical trial was completed, leading to a massive vaccination. It is no wonder that the vaccine first went to the country that sowed the money first and the country that had the vaccine manufacturer. According to Our World Day (OWID), Israel (117%, 1st), the United Kingdom (54.6%, 3rd) and the United States (50.4%, 4th) have the highest vaccination rates (number of vaccinations compared to the total population) among OECD countries. This is why the cumulative number of infections in the back (per 1 million people) is relatively high at 4th, 5th, and 17th, respectively.

It is also a reversal that the hope and reality that vaccines will solve all problems are going differently. In Hungary, the current vaccination rate (36.6%) is the fifth among OECD countries, and the number of new confirmed cases is 680 per million, ranking first. Chile, the second largest inoculation rate, is also rapidly increasing the number of new confirmed cases (360 per million, 8th). In the United States, which has a large population, 68,000 people are still newly confirmed every day. By absolute number, it is the overwhelmingly 1st place among OECD countries and 2nd place in the world after India. In particular, Chile, which has recently received the attention of the world media, has great implications. It was a decisive mistake to lift the blockade in January, when the vaccination rate was still less than 1%. A mutant virus is outbreak in neighboring countries, and I went on vacation without a mask. So no matter how much vaccine you give, you won’t be caught.

This is an issue for advanced countries that are obsessed with vaccine nationalism. By the end of this year, AZ will supply 3 billion vaccines, and the remaining 4 vaccines will be 5 billion doses. However, the United States, Britain, and Israel have already been wiped out. An international project called’Covax’ was created to provide an equitable vaccine, but it is still difficult for poor countries to see the vaccine. Theward Ross Governor Yeosus, Secretary General of the World Health Organization (WHO), pointed out this as a “crisis of catastrophic moral failure.” Bloomberg said, “At this rate, it will take seven years for group immunity to develop around the world.” Even if some developed countries achieve mass immunity early in their own country, the border blockade could not be resolved for several years.

Another reversal in the future is likely to come from the new vaccine as well. Of the vaccines already developed, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine was the first. Russia underwent clinical trials and began mass immunizations of the vaccine, which eroded initial trust. However, in February, the third phase result of 91% prevention effect was published in an international journal (lancet) that undergoes rigorous peer review, which is gradually drawing attention. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has been reviewing approval for the use of this vaccine for a month.

According to the New York Times on the 5th, Professor Jason McLellan of the University of Texas chemistry, USA, released the results of a study on the structure of the spike protein that can make a corona vaccine for free. Researchers at Mount Sinai’s Ikan Medical School in New York have succeeded in culturing the protein in eggs. If clinical trials in Vietnam, Brazil, and Thailand are successful, the way to make as much of a flu vaccine inexpensively will be opened.

The protagonist of the reversal will be the new vaccine, but it is the fight against time that determines the final victory. Like Chile or the Korean government ahead of the elections, it will be ruined if the quarantine is released in a hurry. Also, no matter how good a vaccine is developed, it becomes useless if the people refuse to accept it. More worrying is that this AZ vaccine crisis can instigate a feeling of rejection of the vaccine rather than the side effect itself.

Choi Hyun-cheol Policy Director