Don’t worry about Sinovac vaccine, say health experts

Don’t worry about Sinovac vaccine, say health experts

Health experts say all vaccines prevent serious illness caused by the Delta variant. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Those who get the Sinovac vaccine need not worry about its efficacy against new Covid-19 variants or Putrajaya’s decision to halt the usage of the China-made drug, three health experts said.

However, they said the government’s conflicting statements over Sinovac could impact the national vaccination drive.

The health experts are Sunway University president Dr Sibrandes Poppema, consultant paediatrician and paediatric cardiologist Dr Zulkifli Ismail and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s health economy and public health specialist, deputy dean Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh.

Poppema, a specialist in immunopathology, said all vaccines, including Sinovac, provide sufficient protection against serious illness or death from Covid-19.

He said all vaccines offer slightly lower protection against the Delta variant, “but they also prevent serious illness caused by this variant”.

Poppema said concerns over Sinovac’s efficacy were also exacerbated by news reports of Covid-19 infections and deaths, including 350 Indonesian health workers contracting the virus.

This, he said, was a “small minority” when compared to the one million healthcare workers vaccinated with Sinovac.

“Very few of them became seriously ill,” he said, adding that the success of the vaccine had been underreported.

He also said the highest numbers of infections with the Delta variant were currently found in the UK, which mostly used the AstraZeneca vaccine, and in European countries (Pfizer and AstraZeneca) and the US (Pfizer and Moderna).

“Does that mean they are not effective? No, it’s the non-vaccinated who are affected, and the small number of vaccinated people who do become infected are not seriously ill,” he told FMT.

Sharifa Ezat said joint research by the University of Hong Kong and the World Health Organization showed vaccines using the mRNA technology – like Pfizer and Moderna – may offer more robust protection against Covid-19 and its variants compared to the more traditional inactivated virus shots.

However, she said, the study focused on the neutralising of antibodies.

“And these are not the only measure of a vaccine’s effectiveness. It did not include data on other potential markers of protection,” she said, adding that getting inoculated by Sinovac was still better than not being vaccinated at all.

Vaccine rhetoric and trust deficit

Zulkifli said those who had received both doses of Sinovac need not lose sleep, adding that if evidence showed a need for a booster with another vaccine type, the public would be informed.

“There is a lot of anti-China vaccine rhetoric on social and mass media right now, so it’s hard to sieve the information,” he said.

On July 15, health minister Dr Adham Baba said Malaysia would stop administering Sinovac once its supply ends as it has a sufficient number of other vaccines for its programme.

The announcement to stop using Sinovac’s inactivated virus vaccine came amid increasing concerns over its efficacy against new and more contagious variants of the Covid-19 virus.

On Sunday, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng questioned Putrajaya over conflicting statements on Sinovac following Adham’s announcement to discontinue its usage after those waiting for their second dose are administered the vaccine.

He said such announcements and statements affected the confidence of the people, not just in the Sinovac vaccine but also the entire national Covid-19 immunisation programme (PICK).

Poppema agreed, saying the conflicting statements could impact the public’s confidence in vaccines, and hinder the target to get at least 80% of the population inoculated.

And this does not augur well especially in view of the “serious” situation now, he said.

Zulkifli said there was already a trust deficit between the people and the government, and conflicting statements would erode it further and lead to a drop in vaccine confidence.

“Once the trust deficit widens, it’ll take a long time to mend, and the gap will be filled by anti-vaccine protagonists. It may affect our vaccination registration uptake rates.”

Sharifa Ezat agreed, saying such inconsistencies may see people either opt out or defer their appointments to receive the Sinovac vaccine.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) president Amrahi Buang said while confidence in a vaccine may be eroded, it would not prevent people from signing up to get inoculated.

This is due to the surging number of cases as reported in the past week.

“But there is still a need to make people understand the definition of efficacy. Every vaccine is effective in preventing one from contracting a severe case of Covid-19 requiring one to be hospitalised.”

He also said people should be mindful of what they read on social media about the vaccines and advised them to refer to experts.