Coronavirus Disease : Vaccines
There are several COVID-19 vaccines validated for use by WHO . The first mass vaccination programme started in early December 2020 and the number of vaccination doses administered is updated on a daily basis on the COVID-19 dashboard.
The WHO Emergency Use Listing process determines whether a product can be recommended for use based on all the available data on safety and efficacy and on its suitability in low- and middle-income countries. Vaccines are assessed to ensure they meet acceptable standards of quality, safety and efficacy using clinical trial data, manufacturing and quality control processes. The assessment weighs the threat posed by the emergency as well as the benefit that would accrue from the use of the product against any potential risks.
In line with their national regulations and legislation, countries have the autonomy to issue emergency use authorizations for any health product. Domestic emergency use authorizations are issued at the discretion of countries and not subject to WHO approval.
As of 26 November 2021, the following vaccines have obtained EUL:
If you live in a country where vaccines are available to more people beyond these priority groups, get vaccinated as soon as it is your turn.
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Mrna Flu Shots Move Into Trials
Hot off the successful deployment of mRNA vaccines for the prevention of COVID-19, three leading drugmakers have moved seasonal flu vaccine candidates built with the technology into early clinical testing. More companies intend to follow their leads next year .
These candidates, if successful, could dramatically bolster the efficacy of a vaccine class that often delivers lacklustre protection. For mRNAs proponents led by Moderna, Pfizer and Sanofi, all of which initiated phase I trials in recent months new flu jabs could prove lucrative or help maintain standing in a global market projected to exceed US$10 billion by decades end.
A New Shot Every Year
Flu shots are necessary every year, but they dont provide flawless protection. One study found that, every 28 days after receiving a flu shot, the risk of catching the virus increases by 16%. The flu viruses mutate so often and so quickly that creating a new vaccine every year is the only way to stay ahead of it.
Studies show that booster vaccines can improve the efficacy of the vaccine, but only for limited demographics. Similar to the COVID-19 vaccine, researchers are finding that those with already-limited immune systems who dont develop an immune response as effectively might benefit from a second flu vaccine.
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How Vaccine Contracts Are Awarded
The GC works with vaccine manufacturers on behalf of interested provincial and territorial governments. It award contracts on behalf of these jurisdictions, who use these contracts to purchase their vaccines for public programs and then supply them to:
- local public health clinics
- doctors’ offices
- pharmacies
The GC has an open, fair and transparent process for awarding contracts to supply vaccines. The GC procures goods and services at the best value for Canadians.
You can find previously awarded contracts to Canadian vaccine manufacturers, available contracts for suppliers and guidelines on how the GC awards contracts on the GC Buy and sell website.
Occupational Safety And Health Administration
OSHA requirements are set by statute, standards and regulations. Our interpretation letters explain these requirements and how they apply to particular circumstances, but they cannot create additional employer obligations. This letter constitutes OSHA’s interpretation of the requirements discussed. Note that our enforcement guidance may be affected by changes to OSHA rules. Also, from time to time we update our guidance in response to new information. To keep apprised of such developments, you can consult OSHA’s website at .
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How Do Vaccines Work
Getting vaccines for various preventable diseases is an expected part of childhood in most of the developed world. But how do these vaccines work?
When the human immune system encounters a virus or bacteria that might make the host ill, it creates antibodies that attach to the antigens on the outside of the virus or bacteria cell. These antibodies train the immune system when and where to attack. Under normal circumstances, the body produces antibodies anytime it gets sick. But with some severe illnesses like diphtheria, tetanus, and measles, where infections can have severe side effects or be fatal, thats where vaccines come in.
Vaccines work by introducing a small, weakened or inactive antigen from a specific illness into the body. The immune system can create antibodies that will recognize the specific pathogen if they ever encounter it in the real world, without having to get sick in the first place.
Most vaccines offer extended protection. The vaccine that prevents tetanus, for example, is only necessary once every 5-10 years, though studies show that the antibody levels dont drop significantly over the course of a persons life, so boosters are only necessary for the event of a severe injury, surgery, or animal bite.
With all these levels of protection, what makes flu vaccines so different that a new formula is necessary every year?
How The Seasonal Flu Jab Is Made
Radio 4 You and Yours Reporter
It sounds unlikely, but you can’t make a flu vaccine without breaking a few eggs.
The only manufacturer of the flu jab in the UK is Novartis, based Liverpool – which makes 30 million of the jabs a year for the global market.
Chickens play a crucial role in the process.
Hens’ eggs began to be used to grow the flu virus in the 1940’s because they provided the right conditions and nutrients.
Five drug companies now manufacture the world’s flu vaccines and 70 years later all of them use eggs to grow the vaccine.
The NHS buys nearly 16 million doses a year.
He said: “Twelve times a day we get a delivery of 12 trolleys full of eggs. Each trolley has 5,500 eggs, so half a million each day. They stay in a warm room which is kept at constant temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.”
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Development Of Candidate Vaccine Viruses
- In general influenza wild type A viruses recommended for inclusion in vaccines do not grow efficiently in eggs for large scale production.
- Two technologies are being used for the development of suitable candidate reassortant vaccine viruses:
- classical reassortment, available since 1971 to generate hybrid viruses.
- reverse genetics, a patented technology, available to attenuate highly pathogenic viruses and reassort the attenuated HA and NA with backbone virus.
But Theres More About Vaccine Profits
Actually, there are other issues that become problematic if we suddenly had this size of an epidemic. For example, the number of ICU beds per capita has dropped by 75% since the 1960s partially as a result of the reduction in numbers of children with infectious diseases. See the irony there?
If we suddenly stopped vaccinating because Big Pharma wanted to make billions of more profits, our hospitals would be overwhelmed. And guess whos making money then? Big Mortuary. Because children will die at much higher rates than in the 1950s because we couldnt handle it.
And Im ignoring all of the other burdens to modern countries if this happened. Parents who are unable to work. Long-term healthcare costs for children who are seriously injured by these diseases. Emotional stress. Overwhelmed hospitals that cant treat other chronic conditions. Even countries that have superior healthcare systems would collapse under the strain.
So, all of you people at Age of lying about Autism , how much money are YOU receiving from Big Pharma to create the illusion that vaccines are dangerous? Because, now I have uncovered the real goal of Big Pharma get rid of vaccines. Yes, obviously anti-vaxxers are the real shills for Big Pharma. How unethical can they be, sacrificing the lives and health of children for a few dollars from Big Pharma?
Is Big Pharma perfect? Hell no, and Ive said it before.
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Important Safety Information Openclose
- You should not get FLUMIST QUADRIVALENT if you have a severe allergy to eggs or to any inactive ingredient in the vaccine have ever had a life-threatening reaction to influenza vaccinations or are 2 through 17 years old and take aspirin or medicines containing aspirin children or adolescents should not be given aspirin for 4 weeks after getting FLUMIST QUADRIVALENT unless your healthcare provider tells you otherwise
- Children under 2 years old have an increased risk of wheezing after getting FLUMIST QUADRIVALENT
- Tell your healthcare provider if you or your child are currently wheezing have a history of wheezing if under 5 years old have had Guillain-Barré syndrome have a weakened immune system or live with someone who has a severely weakened immune system have problems with your heart, kidneys, or lungs have diabetes are pregnant or nursing or are taking a medication used to treat influenza like Tamiflu®*, Relenza®*, amantadine, or rimantadine
- The most common side effects are runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, and fever over 100°F
Our Response To Covid
Despite the constantly challenging environment the COVID-19 pandemic has presented to the world, we have remained steadfast in our promise to safeguard public health. As the pandemic continues to evolve, so have we. We have redirected resources and taken on extra commitments to protect public health where we could offer the most value, including our expertise, technologies, equipment and materials.
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Gsk Surprised By Demand
GSK won FDA approval for its quadrivalent vaccine, Fluarix Quadrivalent, in December 2012 for use in those 3 years of age and older. The company plans to make 22 million to 24 million doses of vaccine this year, including up to 10 million doses of the four-strain version.
Rob Perry, GSK US external communications director for vaccines, said demand for Fluarix Quadrivalent has been surprisingly strong.
“We pre-booked every dose of Fluarix Quadrivalent that we could manufactureapproximately 10 million doses,” Perry said by e-mail. “What surprised us about the demand was that it played out despite our not beginning to take orders until almost February, which is toward the end of booking season.
“We attribute the demand to healthcare providers quickly recognizing the benefit of offering their patients a flu vaccine that includes a second B strain, as well as the quick signal from the ACIP meeting in February that quadrivalent flu vaccine was an appropriate alternative to traditional trivalent flu vaccines.
“CDC, always our single largest flu vaccines customer, placed a major order for Fluarix Quadrivalent, and healthcare providers moved in the same direction. Candidly, GSK originally projected that demand for quadrivalent vaccines would take a few years to build, though the simple logic of quadrivalent flu vaccine has always made sense as we were working to develop it.”
List Of Key Companies Profiled:
- GlaxoSmithKline plc.
- Emergent BioSolutions Inc.
- Sinovac Biotech Ltd
To get information on various segments,
The global influenza vaccine market report provides a detailed analysis of the global market. It focuses on the key aspects such as leading companies, product types, and leading product applications. Besides, the report offers insights into the market trends and highlights key industry developments. In addition to the features above, the report encompasses several factors that have contributed to the market’s growth over the recent years. It further offers an analytical depiction of the market trends and estimations to illustrate the forthcoming investment pockets. Finally, the market is quantitatively analyzed from 2021 to 2028 to provide the financial competency of the market.
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Medicago Building Vaccine Factory In North Carolina
A small Quebec-based company is experimenting with a faster and cheaper way to make flu vaccines as part of the U.S. government’s program to fight biological threats, including pandemics.
The U.S. Defence Department is investing $21 million US in Medicago, a company that is researching how to make flu vaccines with tobacco plants.
During the H1N1 outbreak, Medicago did a test run of producing the experimental vaccine in Australian tobacco plants.
“It took approximately 19 days until we were able to have the first doses of the vaccine,” said Medicago’s chief scientific officer, Louis Vezina.
In comparison, the traditional approach of growing flu vaccines in eggs took six months.
Handling And Storing Vaccines
Vaccines must be handled carefully by trained personnel from the time they are made to when they are given to patients. This ensures Canadians have a steady supply of safe and effective vaccines.
Vaccines may become less effective when exposed to sunlight and extreme temperatures. Most vaccines must maintain a temperature of between 2 to 8°C at all times. If the product is ever exposed to temperatures outside this range, the vaccine may have to be destroyed. This waste could mean there may not be enough vaccine for those who need it.
In partnership with the GC, the Canadian Nurses Coalition on Immunization developed the National Vaccine Storage and Handling Guidelines for Immunization Providers. These guidelines describe the:
- temperature range for keeping vaccines
- responsibilities of personnel handling and storing vaccines
- right equipment needed to store vaccines safely
- best practices for stock management, including vaccine distribution and disposal guidelines
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We’re Committed To The Fight Against Influenza
At Seqirus, we are driven by just one goal – to lessen the severity and impact of influenza, which can reach epidemic or even pandemic proportions with life-threatening consequences. Every year our influenza vaccines help protect millions of people. We find solutions to big, complex, challenging problems, and we see the results in the world around us. Then we do it all over again the following year.Seqirus is one of the worlds largest influenza vaccine companies. We were created when our parent company, CSL Limited, acquired the Novartis influenza vaccine business and combined it with vaccine subsidiary, bioCSL.
Pigs Pandemics And A Better Vaccine
But even the most effectively formulated seasonal flu shot is, by design, only intended to protect people from the types of flu that commonly circulate in humans.
Among researchers, another main area of concern is the possibility of a flu pandemic, which occurs when a flu virus that typically infects animals, like pigs or birds, changes in such a way that it can spread rapidly and perhaps lethally from person to person.
That’s where experts like veterinarian and professor Andrew Bowman, who leads Ohio State University’s animal influenza research program, come in.
Bowman and his team spend each summer traveling to more than 100 county fairs, where they swab the snouts of exhibition pigs in search of flu strains with pandemic potential. Much like the CDC researchers who analyze human flu specimens, their goal is to use genetic testing to get an early look at potentially troublesome changes in the viruses they capture.
“As we characterize these strains, we can identify viruses that might be able to spread human-to-human so that we can have effective countermeasures in place before … an outbreak, Bowman says. These countermeasures include collaborating with the CDC to have the building blocks of a pandemic flu vaccine at the ready, should the need arise.
But it doesn’t take a pandemic for the flu to be a serious, even fatal, health threat especially for older adults.
When to get your flu shot
More on Flu Prevention
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Innovation For Flu And Beyond
We are pursuing next generation influenza vaccines with multiple vaccine technologies to develop and bring forward tomorrows vaccines to people around the world as fast as possible.
That means not only using mRNA or protein-based technologies, but also of antigen selection in order to induce broader protection.
We are currently innovating in our existing different technologies including egg-based flu vaccines, recombinant proteins, mRNA to develop and deliver vaccines that can protect as many people as possible against flu and its complications.
How The Flu Vaccine Is Made
- The flu vaccine contains three or four strains of flu type A and B viruses.
- These viruses are injected into eggs or added to cell cultures, where they’ll grow and multiply.
- After that, the viruses are killed or weakened for the vaccine.
- This article was reviewed by Graham Snyder, MD, MS, who is the medical director for the Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology branch at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
- This story is part of Insider’s Flu Shot Guide.
For the 2019-20 flu season, more than 162 million doses of flu vaccines will be made in the US, alone.
The flu vaccine may only be widely distributed during certain months, but creating it is a year-round process.
These vaccines are the result of months of careful research and planning to produce the most effective vaccine possible. Here’s the process from start to finish.
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Expected Sales In : $2bn
Analysts at SVB Leerink are forecasting sales of $1.9bn this year and $3bn in 2022. The 2021 figure could be far higher if AstraZeneca achieves its ambitious target of 3bn doses. The company has pledged to supply the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis during this pandemic, and charges $4.30 to $10 for two doses.
Sinovac Inactivated Virus Vaccine
The CoronaVac jab has been administered for emergency use in several Chinese cities since last summer, and was approved by Chinas regulator in early February. Sinovac, which is based in Beijing, has struck deals with Brazil, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. In January, Turkey and Indonesia kicked off their vaccination campaigns with the jab. Sinovac also plans to supply 10m vaccine doses to Covax nations.
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