Consider a third jab for Sinovac recipients, govt told

 

With concerns rising over whether the Sinovac vaccine can offer protection against more virulent strains, former health minister Dr S Subramaniam says the country can take a more proactive approach. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The government should consider testing booster doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine after concerns over the efficacy of the vaccine, says former health minister Dr S Subramaniam.

This comes after vaccine minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government did not have enough data yet to decide on booster shots for those given the Sinovac vaccine.

The calls for the booster shots come amid fears that the China-made vaccine would not provide enough protection against the more virulent variants of Covid-19.

More recently, a Hong Kong study indicated that those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had 10 times the amount of antibodies than those given the Sinovac vaccine.

Subramaniam said that while he respected the government’s prudence in wanting to wait for more data, the country could take a more proactive approach with booster vaccination trials.

Dr S Subramaniam.

“This can give greater confidence and protection to those already vaccinated with Sinovac.”

He said Chile and Seychelles, which used China-made vaccines, had reported an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases despite having a very high vaccination rate of between 65% and 70% of their populations.

“Analysis has shown that Sinovac only has a 65% efficacy against symptomatic infection in contrast to a 96% and 92% efficacy of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines respectively.”

He said although Sinovac vaccines have an efficacy of 87% in preventing hospitalisation, this was much lower than the other two vaccines.

Recent data, he added, showed the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines to be effective in protecting against hospitalisation and death in those infected with the Delta variant.

“Unfortunately, there isn’t much data available for the Sinovac vaccine and the scientific team behind Sinovac has suggested a third dose might be required to increase its efficacy against the Delta variant.”

He said this was why countries that have used the Sinovac vaccine are reviewing their strategy, including proposing the mixing of vaccines and booster doses to overcome any shortcomings of the Sinovac vaccine. - FMT