Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire disputed Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. ‘s theory that China-made coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines are effective to Filipinos after posting good results on Indonesians.
Vergeire explained that proving the effectiveness rate of Covid-19 vaccines would take time.
“Sinovac? Alam ninyo po sa mga clinical trials, importante na magamit iyong bakuna sa kaparehong ethnicity kasi nga po iyong genetic make-up. Eh ang Pilipino at mga Indonesians po, pareho tayong Malay ‘no. So kung napatunayang 91.25% effective po ang bakuna sa Indonesia na kapuwa Malay natin, baka ganoon din po ang magiging resulta kapag nagbakuna tayo dito sa Pilipinas,” Roque earlier said.
However, Sinovac’s efficacy rate after human trials in Indonesia only posted 65% contrary to Roque’s 91.25% claim.
“For the information of everybody, wala pa pong makakaalam kung magiging epektibo ang bakuna o hindi. Hindi pa po malalaman sa ngayon na nasa initial vaccination pa lang [ang ibang mga bansa],” Vergeire said in an online briefing.
“Whatever other countries are doing right now…kapag nagpapabakuna sila, iyong pong effectiveness ng isang bakuna will depend on its outcomes on the population. It will take long; hindi po natin agad makikita if it is effective or not,” Vergeire added.
Despite posting promising results in other countries, Covid-19 vaccines will still need to pass the arduous process of the Philippine vaccine experts, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Kahit effective siya sa ibang bansa, kailangan pa rin natin ito idaan sa ating regulatory process,” Vergeire said.
Currently, only Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine has secured an emergency use authorization (EUA) to the Philippines.
Sinovac, on the other hand, has a pending EUA application to the Philippines. The results of its vaccine human trials in the country are also pending. Ronald dela Cruz