Vaccines

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is based on mRNA technology (see news-COVID-19 newsletter January 25-31 2021), providing our bodies with the code for the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) surface protein. After injection, the mRNA acts as a matrix for the production of the S protein by our cells. Antibodies and memory lymphocytes targeting the S protein are thereby […]

The Janssen vaccine is one of various COVID-19 vaccines currently available. It is based on adenovirus viral vector technology which contains DNA coding for the SARS-CoV-2 spike surface protein. This vaccine has several advantages: it requires one injection, and storage is simple. However, like the majority of vaccines on the only market, while it has […]

Eleven months after the start of its development, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine became the first anti-COVID-19 vaccine to obtain authorization. This vaccine uses mRNA technology (messenger RNA), like the Moderna vaccine. This mRNA is transiently expressed (and does not integrate into the human genome), placing the blueprint for the SARS-CoV-2 surface protein spike into the body’s […]

Even though we have made progress in treating severe cases of COVID-19, the medicines available are limited. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the development of vaccines has been a worldwide priority. More than 182 candidate-vaccines have been announced, of which at least 81 have been tested in more than 230 clinical trials. These vaccines […]

By the 3rd April 2021, SARS-CoV-2 had infected 131 million people and caused 2,8 million deaths worldwide. In Israel, it had been responsible for 82 1748 infections and 6 236 deaths. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, based on mRNA technology was authorised in Israel from December 2020. The health ministry launched an unprecedented vaccination campaign, with the […]

In this time of pandemic, availability of safe and effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 is a key condition for being able to reduce the severity of illness and limit transmission. Eleven vaccines have already been authorised in at least one country. The three main vaccines remain the 2 mRNA Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, approved in 60 […]

Vaccination is our main weapon against COVID-19. Since December 2020, 4 vaccines have been approved by the European Medicines Agency: 2 mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna) and two adenovirus vaccines (AstraZeneca and Janssen). By the 7th April 2021, more than 82 million doses had been administered in Europe. In numerous countries, health workers who are […]

Subunit vaccines are those which contain only a part of a pathogen’s protein. They are amongst the safest and the most used against multiple infectious diseases (hepatitis B, diphtheria or tetanus for example). An essential component of these vaccines is the adjuvant, which helps to create a stronger, longer lasting and better quality immune response. […]

SARS-CoV-2 variants have rapidly supplanted the initial Wuhan strain and have greater capacities of transmissibility. The first variant to emerge was the D416G, with a mutation that improved the spike’s interaction with the ACE2 receptor, but which did not enable it to evade neutralizing antibodies (See News-COVID-19.info letter 8-14 Mars 2021). More recently mutations and […]

A significant number of new SARS-CoV-2 variants have been identified in recent months, notably the South African variant, which emerged in October 2020 and rapidly became dominant in South Africa. This variant carries 3 characteristic mutations in the RBD domain of the spike (S) surface protein: K417N, E484K and N501Y. This domain is particularly important […]