Spain shows off its ‘talent’ with the Hipra vaccine to be administered in the autumn campaign | Social Information Leader
The Covid-19 vaccination campaign “will have a diverse portfolio” that will include this year’s conventional mRNA and the protein serum Hipra, which will also be vaccinated next fall, a serum that has demonstrated “talent, quality and effectiveness in vaccinating against Covid-19” in Spain.
This was stated on Tuesday by several vaccine experts during a dialogue on the topic of ‘Vaccines and Human Health’. Immunization of vulnerable groups against SARS-CoV-2′, organized by the news agency Servimedia in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Hipra and NPM Congresos and held at the Riu Hotel in Madrid.
At the beginning of the event, Health Minister Javier Padilla recalled that “last year’s vaccination was the first post-pandemic without a pandemic. Looking ahead to the next campaign, we hope to increase coverage compared to the previous year.”
For this reason, he added, “to achieve this goal, it is advisable to combine the vaccination strategy and the information campaign. This year, the vaccination portfolio will again be diversified.”
“In Spain, we are lucky to have one of the four vaccines against Covid-19, and in the next campaign we will have the opportunity to introduce into our portfolio not only mRNA vaccines, but also a protein vaccine, which will be Hipra,” he explained.
LOWER RISK PERCEPTION
In this regard, the Director General of the Department of Public Health, Consumption and Care of La Rioja, Eva Martínez, stressed that this year they plan to continue to implement the recommendations of the Ministry of Health for the presentation of vaccines for the next campaign against influenza and Covid-19. “because there is a difference in the population between them.” In fact, he explained, “last year was not like this and there is a lower perception of the risk of contagion.”
This is possible, according to Jaime Pérez, president of the Spanish Association of Vaccinologists (AEV), “because we tend to compare with the pandemic and underestimate the problem.” In fact, he noted, “last year there were 40,000 hospitalizations for influenza, as well as 30,000 hospitalizations for Covid.”
For this reason, he insisted that both viruses are respiratory and “we must protect ourselves from them because the occurrence of the disease can be serious and fatal. Therefore, vaccination should be included in the process of healthy aging.”
It is true, the AEV President noted, “that the population is tired of vaccines and, above all, of Covid-19, so health workers must be deeply aware of the importance of vaccination, especially among the most vulnerable groups of the population.”
RELEVANCE OF VACCINATION
In this regard, he noted the approval of the first Spanish protein vaccine from Hipra, a “first-class vaccine”.
The president of the Spanish Society of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Health Management, Manuel García de la Vega, also expressed his opinion, noting that “in addition to vaccines, we must also talk about mortality from these two infections. Hence the importance of vaccinating health workers to raise awareness among patients.”
Faced with this situation, the director of the Higher Institute of Medical Training (Isfos) of the General Council of Nursing (CGE), Pilar Fernández, insisted on the importance of training and periodic information for health personnel, “which is essential to increase vaccination coverage for patients.”
In this regard, he stressed that the figure of the nurse is of fundamental importance, which “is present throughout the entire process of the vaccination campaign, so in Isfos we offer them this necessary training free of charge, and since 2020, almost 30,000 such professionals: “They were formed in Covid-19.”
NEW STRATEGY
Faced with this situation, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health Javier Castrodesa has opted for other types of campaigns. “We have more and more data that we need a different communication strategy, more personalized, so that it reaches the entire population.”
In fact, he insisted, “we are bargaining over messages, the price of vaccines is falling, and people are demanding more information.”
For this reason, Professor José Martínez of the Andalusian School of Public Health also supported this idea of changing the strategy and “finding out why the population does not want to be vaccinated and why there is such an underestimation of vaccination, and here they play a relevant role.”
Moreover, he warned that “we must be careful about possible health warnings.” Given this reality, he stressed the importance of “Spain being sufficiently productive in the field of vaccines, and now we have a Spanish vaccine.”
VACCINE ADAPTED TO VARIANTS
The vaccine, which “was made possible thanks to the collaboration of volunteers who took part in clinical trials,” said Hipra Executive Vice President Elia Torroella, stressing that the serum “is already being produced adapted to the new variants of SARS CoV-2.”
In fact, the biotech pharmaceutical company Hipra will have a Covid-19 vaccine adapted to the JN.1 variant, in line with new recommendations from health authorities that propose updating the composition of vaccines for the next autumn campaign.
Hipra, thanks to constant epidemiological monitoring, has taken these recommendations into account and has begun developing the new adapted vaccine and producing the first batches in its production centres in Spain, being able to guarantee the supply of doses to the population.
The adapted vaccine with adjuvanted recombinant protein will be available in a single dose format. Among other advantages, such presentation facilitates its logistics and administration by healthcare personnel, thereby contributing to increased vaccination coverage.