Confidence in Vaccines Essential to Move Past Crisis

President López Obrador is back after being infected with COVID-19. This week, vaccination campaigns are ready to continue as Mexico received shipments of doses and active chemicals to begin local production. Globally, COVID-19 variants keep challenging confidence on vaccines. However, science is ready to demonstrate effectiveness and safety.

Here is the Week in Health!

NATIONAL

-Mexico approved the emergency use of the Chinese vaccines against COVID-19 CanSino and Sinovac, reported Deputy Minister of Health Hugo López-Gatell.

-CanSino's vaccine is 65.7 percent effective in preventing symptomatic cases, according to the latest trials. Mexico has 35 million doses of this vaccine on hold, Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard reported.

-Mexico’s health leaders expect the system to move toward more patient-centric financing models. In this article, experts explain why and how Mexico could begin implementing sustainable health models to improve both the system and patients’ lives.

-Obesity remains one of Mexico’s heaviest burdens. Find out how Mexican company Medix specializes its treatments and creates integral attention approaches to effectively reduce the obesity death rate in the country.

-The Mexican health industry keeps reinventing itself. MBN enlisted the major global trends driving the industry and the particular trends Mexico is experiencing.

-As vaccination campaigns move forward, more people express their concerns regarding the new vaccines. What role does confidence play in moving past COVID-19? MBN shares the insights of key leaders and hard facts regarding the safety of different vaccine developments.

INTERNATIONAL

-During a visit to Wuhan, WHO experts indicated that the SARS-CoV-2 virus most likely originated in animals before its spread to humans. Thy dismissed fake allegations of the virus being a laboratory creation. Researchers did not find any prove of the virus’ existence before December 2019 in Wuhan. However, it is still unclear which animal carried the virus.

-The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is 74.6 percent effective against the British COVID-19 variant, Oxford researchers reported.

-South Africa suspended the application of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after study results showed the vaccine offers limited protection against the South African variant.

-Wearing two masks can block more than 92 percent of infectious particles, according to new data from the CDC. Researchers recommend wearing a cloth mask over a medical one.

-WHO recommended the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 65 years of age, noting that it may be effective in preventing severe cases of the disease caused by variants like the South African one.

-The US will have a “vaccine for everyone” according to Anthony Fuci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President. This government has already released a list of retail pharmacies where the vaccines will be available for application. In Mexico, the Executive Director of ANADIM has expressed the desire to replicate this initiative to support the government in its vaccine distribution efforts.

-The University of Oxford determined asthma treatments tend to reduce hospitalization cases related to COVID-19. Together with AstraZeneca, the university also found that these treatments accelerate recovery times for patients with COVID-19.