In a press conference at the Casa Rosada, the Minister of Health Carla Vizzotti announced that Argentina will include bivariate vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in the Strategic Vaccination Plan against COVID. In this context, and with information from specialists and the health portfolio, the ten key questions about this novelty are answered.
1) What is a bivariate or bivalent vaccine?
“A bivalent vaccine is a vaccine that protects against two viruses. In this case, what it does is provide protection against two SARS-Cov-2 viruses that have some differences, ”he explained to telam the infectious disease doctor Elena Obieta, Head of the Infectious Diseases Service of the Hospital de Boulogne, in the Buenos Aires district of San Isidro. And he continued: “In the case of this vaccine, it will have immunogens (which are the stimuli that make us make antibodies against the virus) of the Wuhan variant (also called ancestral) and of the Omicron variant, which is the one that most circulated this last year.
2) What are the bivalent vaccines that are going to be applied in Argentina?
In the country, the Comirnaty Bivariate Original/Omicron BA.4-5 vaccines from the Pfizer/BioNtech laboratory will be applied, authorized for use in the general population of 12 years of age or older, and the Spikevax Bivariate Original/Omicron BA.4-5 vaccine from the Modern laboratory, authorized for the general population of 6 years or older.
3) If I received the monovalent COVID vaccine less than four months ago, do I have to give it again?
“If I had a dose less than four months ago I am ‘covered’ against COVID because even though the vaccine has not been specific against the currently circulating variant, it generates a robust immune response that protects against severe disease, hospitalizations and death”, explained Obieta, a member of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases (SADI).
4) What do I do if I am going to get vaccinated and they offer me the monovalent?
“If it has been more than four months since I had the last dose, you have to go to a vaccination center and get the vaccine that is available, it does not matter which one, because as we said before, all the vaccines that are being applied are safe and effective against the disease. severe, hospitalization and death,” he said.
In this sense, the health portfolio indicated that for a time the two types of doses (monovalent and bivalent) can coexist in vaccinations and that in this case “the vaccine that is available at the moment will be administered -according to the authorized ages- without prioritize one formulation over another.
5) Do bivalent vaccines only serve as a booster?
The Ministry reported that “like the monovalent mRNA vaccines, the bivariate ones against COVID will be used both to start or complete primary regimens and for the application of booster doses.”
6) Can anyone give it to you or is it for specific groups?
“Yes, anyone can give it to you,” said Obieta.
7) Does it have more side effects?
The specialist pointed out that “it is not described that they have more adverse effects than monovalent vaccines“. In relation to side effects, he described that “the main adverse effect that we have seen in both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is pain at the injection site, fatigue, or a fever on the same day of application.” .
8) If I take the bivalent, would the term for the next dose be longer?
“There are still no set deadlines for when the next reinforcement will be necessary. For the moment, what we know is that the defenses drop after four months and that is why vaccination is indicated in that period,” he said.
9) When are they going to start applying?
The health portfolio reported that between Thursday and Friday 1,100,160 doses of Pfizer’s bivariate vaccine arrive in the country, while the distribution of 900,000 doses of this vaccine will begin on Tuesday to all jurisdictions, which will be applied to starting in the coming weeks according to the strategic plans of each district. In addition, during the week of February 6, around 3 million bivariate vaccines from Moderna will arrive in different shipments and from February 13 another 1,200,000 doses from Pfizer will arrive.
10) What if I had COVID?
“As we have been recommending with the monovalent vaccine, in case of having had COVID, what we are indicating is to wait 90 days before giving the booster dose since for that period of time it is considered that the organism generates natural protection,” Obieta concluded.
