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REMBAU: The government will consider administering a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as a booster in case the pandemic becomes endemic, said the Coordinating Minister of the National Covid-19 Immunization Program, Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said studies have shown that there is a possibility that a third dose will be needed next year.
“This is also one of the strategies to deal with variants (of viruses) in case that happens.
“We can ask the companies that sell us (vaccines) to provide new vaccine formulations so that we can deal with the mutated variants,” he told a news conference after receiving the Sinovac vaccine injected today at Rembau Hospital.
Khairy, who is also Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, was asked what the government’s plans were in the event of an over-purchase of Covid-19 vaccines.
An endemic is medically defined as an outbreak of disease within a perpetually existing geographic location.
Khairy said that if there was a surplus, the vaccines would be kept as a reserve reserve for a number of reasons.
“Right now, we are going through a phase of clinical trials in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. If it is determined that this vaccine is safe for that group, then we will involve adolescents in this immunization program, so we need a buffer stock, “he said.
Meanwhile, Khairy explained that the request from the National Pharmaceutical Regulation Division (NPRA) to Pfizer for its vaccine was for two doses.
“We cannot change it to a single dose according to our whims and fantasies, as clinical data shows that the best immunization is only with two doses.
“Although there are studies that show that there is a high level of effectiveness after a dose, we do not yet have clinical data to prove it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khairy once again assured that the Sinovac vaccine is safe, saying that it had been evaluated by the NPRA and found to have the same level of safety as the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine.
He said that Sinovac has also been used around the world and to date, more than 60 million doses have been administered and 27 emergency use authorizations have also been received worldwide, including in China, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil. – Called
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