The president of Pfizer in Brazil, Marta Díez, told the sheet that the new contract with the Ministry of Health provides for the delivery of vaccines against Covid adapted to the new variants of the coronavirus.
Formalized this Monday (29), the agreement guarantees Brazil 100 million doses of the immunizing agent in 2022, with an option to buy another 50 million units.
Díez said the drugmaker is still evaluating whether its vaccine loses strength in contact with omicron, a potentially more transmissible strain of Covid-19, initially identified in South Africa. in December.
Pfizer has not yet decided whether it will need to update its vaccine to face the new forms of the virus, but under the contract, Brazil would receive these adapted doses as early as 2022.
If a product change is needed, says Díez, it can be developed in six weeks. Then it would be another hundred days for it to be produced and then delivered.
“The biggest difference between the two contracts is product definition. The 2021 agreement only includes the vaccine that has already been developed. Now the scope is greater, the ministry would have access to these new developments,” said the company’s president on Monday.
Díez participated in an event in Salvador to sign the federal government contract with Pfizer, for next year’s immunization campaign.
The company’s president also said that an agreement for the production of the vaccine against Covid is advancing with the Brazilian laboratory Eurofarma and that, even in 2022, the ministry may use doses bottled in Brazil.
The Spanish company Díez took charge of Pfizer in Brazil in February, as the Bolsonaro government approached its first agreement with the pharmaceutical company.
Before, the agent and his assistants disdained the vaccine, made changes in the legislation that would facilitate the purchase and accused the laboratory of imposing “leonine clauses”.
According to Díez, the terms of the contract for the acquisition of vaccines in 2022 remain the same as the first signed by the Ministry of Health. The novelty is the possibility for Brazil to receive doses adapted to the variants.
The ministry has already delivered 147 million doses of Pfizer, the most used model in Brazil and recommended by the government to be applied as a booster dose. The pharmaceutical company is also the only one with a guarantee for the application of the immunizing agent in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years and is awaiting approval for its use in children aged five years and over.
When should Pfizer release vaccine efficacy studies against the omicron variant? Right now the company is studying the impact of the variant on the immunization that our vaccine has today.
We should have found out in December, in the coming weeks, whether the current vaccine is sufficient or whether it will be necessary to develop a new version.
If it’s not efficient for the new variant, what are you planning? One of the advantages of this mRNA technology is that the development of a new immunizer is very fast. It only needs the RNA sequencing of this virus to make the new vaccine.
The company is estimating that to develop the new model [se for necessário], it would be fast AND to produce, too. It would take six weeks to develop the product and another 100 days for production.
In the 2022 contract with the Ministry of Health, is there a forecast for Pfizer to deliver a new vaccine model, adapted to the variants? Yes. The definition of the product in this new contract is quite comprehensive, it includes the current version, but also new developments, if necessary for the new variants, be it omicron or others.
This contract includes these possible new versions of the vaccines, as well as different age groups, if the ministry wants to expand.
Have there been any significant changes in the clauses of this new contract? How was the negotiation with the ministry? The decision was simpler. Deciding on the contract for the first time is not the same as a review. It was faster, but it still needs some time.
Even the volume the Ministry of Health wanted took some time to decide. There are 100 million doses, with 50 million more, optional. If the ministry decides it needs more, it has this possibility.
The biggest difference between the two contracts is in the definition of the product. The 2021 agreement only includes the vaccine already developed. Now the broader scope, the ministry would have access to these new developments.
The Ministry of Health proposes using the dose of Pfizer as a reinforcement even for those who received another model in the basic cycle. How does Pfizer assess this debate? A difficult question. The clinical data was actually done with a booster dose for people who got the Pfizer vaccine.
In reality, no one has clinical data on booster doses for different vaccines. Governments must use real-life data. Other countries have already made this model. For the moment there seems to be no problem.
It has already happened in countries such as Europe, where the first dose of AstraZeneca, the second of Pfizer, was made. Even before the booster dose. You must see the clinical safety data.
The directors of Anvisa received threats for the debate on vaccinating children, President Bolsonaro is a vector of misinformation. How does Pfizer see this anti-vaccination movement in Brazil and worldwide? It is clearly a matter of concern to everyone. The anti-vaccination movement is worrisome in the world.
Brazil does not have an anti-vaccination movement as strong as in other countries. You look at the United States, which started vaccinating four, five months earlier and the immunization rate is lower than in Brazil.
There will always be some countries of people who are against the vaccine, but the vaccine needs to be voluntary.
People are free to choose not to get vaccinated if they prefer not to get vaccinated, but they must understand that vaccines save lives. We protect the people around us when we get vaccinated.
X-RAY
Marta Diez, 44
President of Pfizer in Brazil. Born in Spain, she graduated in engineering and has a master’s degree in medical imaging technology and an MBA in business. He was president of the unit that handles Pfizer’s business in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, he also held positions in pharmaceuticals in countries in Europe and the Middle East. The executive has worked at Sandoz, GE Healthcare and at The Boston Consulting Group, in Spain
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