Reacción a "Reactions: EMA authorises Hipra's Spanish vaccine against covid-19"

It is a milestone to have the first vaccine authorised for human use derived from research and developed by a Spanish company. Not having any until now was not commensurate with the level and power of the country. The new Bimervax vaccine, from Hipra, is somewhat different and original in its composition compared to all other vaccines against coronavirus that are authorised in the European Union by the European Medicines Agency, eight with this one. At the same time, it uses a classical method of vaccine production, containing virus-like proteins, like two other such vaccines. It is expected to have similar efficacy and safety to the others and, like the others, will be carefully monitored from now on by pharmacovigilance experts.

It is a milestone for the country because, in order to achieve it, all the candidates that have been initiated from Spain have been "walking the road", having to improve, resolve and learn all the procedures involved in research, scale-up, production, clinical trials, drug evaluation, in an environment in which we did not have it all under control or with sufficient experienced personnel and structures.

It has taken longer than other vaccines, but less than many others. It is an investment in the future of the country. We continue to research and develop vaccines because we still need more and better vaccines: for this virus, for other respiratory infections, for other infectious agents, current or future. Vaccines that also protect us from infection and, therefore, allow collective immunity if they prevent those vaccinated from becoming infected; these are the vaccines that best tackle pandemics and allow us to return to normality more quickly.   

Vaccines that are more stable, easier to preserve, cheaper. Vaccines that are easier to inoculate, that do not require specialised personnel; vaccines that, because of these advantages, will reach the furthest corners of the planet.