Bulgarian Doctor: We are Waiting for a Vaccine that will Protect us Completely from COVID

Society » HEALTH | January 19, 2022, Wednesday // 14:04
Bulgaria: Bulgarian Doctor: We are Waiting for a Vaccine that will Protect us Completely from COVID Pixabay

“I hope that another type of vaccine will be developed soon, according to the classic method, long-lasting vaccines, multifactorial, which with one injection will completely protect us from current and future variants of the coronavirus.”

This was said on BNR by the infectious disease specialist Prof. Georgi Popov from Sofiamed University Hospital.

“We are actively working in this direction in the world. Such a promising vaccine is a joint development of Austrian and French companies - a vaccine against the whole virus. There is even approval from the EMA. Therefore, anyone who hesitates, let them wait and apply this vaccine, developed according to the classical methods, approved 100 years ago”, he commented.

According to the doctor, the vaccine should protect us from the disease, but there is no such vaccine at the moment, and those on the market have compromised themselves:

“This is because the existing vaccines in the world are not long-term. The ones available in Bulgaria have been created against the Wuhan variant and the subsequent variants. We know that there is a new vaccine of Moderna and Pfizer against Omicron, but it is not yet reached Bulgaria,” the professor said.

He predicts that people will get sick several times, but the more they are “shaken” by the virus, the more serious the effect on the body will be due to the long-term COVID syndrome.

Vaccines, although they have shown that they do not protect 100%, are still an option, as protection for both adults and young people, he stressed.

Are the available drugs against the infection effective?

When a working drug against coronavirus is found, then we will defeat the virus, not when we have vaccines and even monoclonal antibodies, Prof. Georgi Popov is categorical.

Among the most effective drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 are monoclonal antibodies, remdesivir - at the beginning of the disease and in the relevant indications for the patient - especially those with concomitant diseases.

The infectious disease specialist pointed out that in the Delta variant, unlike Omicron, monoclonal antibodies are used very successfully. He specified that there are already 30 patients who have been successfully treated with such a preparation in pre-hospital conditions.

He added that drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, several anti-influenza drugs such as rimantadine, and some antiretroviral drugs have already been rejected by medicine through large multicenter studies.

According to him, there may be a temporary shortage of some medicines in the country, but now the Ministry of Health is responding very flexibly and quickly.

“In Bulgaria, as part of the total supply for EU member states, about 50,000 packages of the two new drugs against coronavirus - Pfizer and Merck - have been delivered, but we expect a single national protocol for their use. They are expensive, most likely to be prescribed by GPs in the future, but for certain types of patients. We note with interest that there is some skepticism in the countries where they are already being used." said the doctor.

Pandemic forecast

Prof. Popov expects the pandemic to end because the virus will mutate enough and even if it is artificially created, at some point it will weaken and self-destruct or become an endemic virus.

“We are at the beginning of the fifth wave, and my expectations are to reach the peak in mid-February. Given the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, it could reach more than 30,000 infected per day. The hidden incidence is at least four times higher than the official data.” he said.

According to Prof. Georgi Popov, the disease is rising sharply, but it is treatable and the health system will cope with this wave.

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Tags: covid, vaccine, Coronavirus, pandemic

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