Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech have agreed to donate vaccines against COVID-19 to athletes and staff at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, which will be held this year after being postponed due to the pandemic, the International Olympic Committee (CON) announced.

“As part of plans to ensure a safe Olympic and Paralympic Games and Tokyo 2020, the International Olympic Committee announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE to donate doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Games participants from National Olympic and Paralympic Committees around the world, ”the IOC said on its website.

“The National Olympic Committees will work with their local governments to coordinate distribution in accordance with each country’s vaccination guidelines and local regulations,” she added.

The IOC noted that it is expected that a significant proportion of participants in the Games will be vaccinated before arriving in Japan “based on feedback from the National Olympic Committees and the National Paralympic Committees”.

The games are scheduled to take place from July 23rd to August 8th, but without foreign spectators due to security measures. / ATSH-AA /

Vaccines developed by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna against the new COVID-19 coronavirus are effective in pregnant and lactating women and that protective antibodies are passed on to newborns.

In a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the effects of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant and lactating women were examined.

The results of a study conducted on 131 women, 84 of whom were pregnant, 31 breastfeeding and 16 of whom were not pregnant, showed that the COVID-19 vaccines of the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna were effective in pregnant and lactating women. and that protective antibodies were also passed on to newborns.

According to the study, antibody levels in pregnant and lactating women after vaccination were equivalent to antibody levels in non-pregnant women.

The level of antibodies provided by the vaccine in the subjects was “surprisingly higher” than the innate immunity acquired after they became infected. / AA