Colombia Contributes Female Talent for The COVID-19 Vaccine

At this point, the team has seen 170 cases in total. The split is 162 among people who did not get the vaccine with the placebo, only eight with the vaccine. They also saw ten severe cases of COVID-19 in the trial, and nine of those cases were among people who received placebo, only one with the vaccine, even suggesting that it is very protective not only against symptomatic COVID-19 but also against severe COVID-19. 

One of the protagonists of this shot is Giselle Castillo Villa. The 33-year-old doctor was born in Cartagena, Colombia, and is participating in the search for a cure for the current pandemic. The world of science recently received optimistic results from the North American multinational pharmaceutical corporation, Pfizer, and the German-based European biotechnology company, BioNTech (New Biopharmaceutical Technologies) SE.

According to Semana, Pfizer and BioNTech have demonstrated the efficacy of this vaccine, which means that COVID-19 cases are reduced by more than 90% among trial participants who received the vaccine versus those who received the placebo.

In total, 94 volunteers have contracted the disease so far, out of about 43,500. Giselle has a master's degree in tropical medicine from the University of Salamanca and is currently pursuing a doctorate in molecular epidemiology and translational medicine.

For five years, Castillo has lived in New York and currently works as Pfizer's associate medical director in the department of vaccine research and development.

Also read: COVID 19 and The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents

The Colombian is part of the team that performs medical surveillance and analysis of clinical data on the volunteers participating in the vaccine trial. Giselle told Semana that "my role is to ensure that the vaccine is safe for everyone."

For its part, the University of Cartagena sent a congratulatory message upon learning that one of its graduates is doing great things for the world.

The university wrote, "Our graduates raise the name of the institution internationally. Today's case is Giselle Castillo Villa, Pfizer's associate medical director in the research department, developing the COVID-19 vaccine."

It is worth mentioning that after the efficacy of the Pfizer and BioNTech candidate vaccine was announced, the markets and the world were filled with optimism as it is in its final trials and could bring some normalcy back to everyday life. before the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the Colombian Minister of Health, this vaccine will arrive in the country in the first half of next year.

"The vaccine will be free. The government covers the vaccine, which is part of health security. We hope to have the first batch of Pfizer vaccines in the first half of 2021," said Health Minister Fernando Ruiz in an interview. with Blu Radio.