Germany
is out in front in the race to stop Covid-19. The country expects to start immunizing people
against the disease before the year ends.
Though there are several companies in various stages of development
(including Phase 3), the German-American research and development alliance is
closest to deployment.
BioNTech is a German company which has been
working with New York headquartered Pfizer.
Final results in the U.S. Phase 3 studies are available now and BioNTech-Pfizer could soon
received emergency authorization for the vaccine’s use in November of this year.
Germans
already have set up plans to distribute the vaccines among 60 vaccination
centers rather than doctor’s offices. The
centers are already set up. This is a much more efficient way of distributing
vaccines. Aside from efficiency, one of
the biggest challenges in Germany, as in other countries, is security.
Theft is
a large concern. Shipments of the
vaccine will be easier to track and monitor as they are transported from the
secret German transport hub to the vaccination centers located throughout
Germany’s 16 states. A second concern is
to insure that the first vaccines go to the intended priority targets — health
care workers, the elderly,
law-enforcement officials and other clinically or institutionally vulnerable
people.
BioNTech and Pfizer are
already producing millions of doses to be able to deliver on pre-purchasing
contracts. BioNTech says that their vaccine will be ready to jab hours
after they get authorization from the European Medicines Agency (equivalent of
F.D.A in the U.S).
The vaccination centers are equipped with cooling facilities.
The BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine can be stored at temperatures of up to 8 degrees
Celsius for a week while for longer periods they must be kept at a temperature
of -75 degrees.
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