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KUALA LUMPUR: As anticipation grows with the results of human trials of at least one of the Covid-19 vaccine hopefuls to be released this month, public health experts are advising caution and adherence to current precautionary measures to the foreseeable future.
The world recently crossed the 1 million mark in terms of deaths from Covid-19, making an effective and safe vaccine even more imperative. In Malaysia, cases are on the rise again, raising fears of another wave.
Results of human trials conducted by Pfizer are expected this month, while many other vaccine manufacturers are waiting to know if their product works by the end of the year.
There are more than 150 vaccines in various stages of development, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, the WHO representative in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, Dr. Ying-Ru Jacqueline Lo, reminded the public that they should not expect a vaccine until mid-2021 at the earliest.
“We hope that sometime next year we will have a Covid-19 vaccine, a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine available. That said, the vaccine alone will not be the solution. The vaccine has to be available in the quantities we need, ”he told Bernama in an interview recently.
He said that any vaccine that is approved by WHO under the COVAX facility, an initiative by more than 172 countries to acquire and provide an effective vaccine to at least 20 percent of the member population, must go through other steps. before it can reach the masses. .
LONG ROAD AHEAD
Eleven vaccines, three of them included in the COVAX facility, are currently in phase three trials, in which thousands in many countries are vaccinated while some receive a placebo.
Malaysia announced on September 19 that it would join COVAX, and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia would negotiate bilaterally with other countries to procure vaccines.
While this sounds like good news, experts warn that the road from Phase Three to widespread vaccination is a long one.
For one thing, only time can guarantee the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Subjects in Phase Three trials have to spend months to see if they can become infected with the coronavirus and, if so, how they respond to it.
Researchers also monitor subjects for adverse side effects. Then they compare the results with those who received a placebo to see if there are any statistically significant differences in the data.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, once a vaccine is deemed effective and safe by experts, it moves on to the manufacturing and quality control phases.
The entire process usually takes between 10-15 years, but for Covid-19, this has been compressed to about two years. Approval, however, does not mean availability.
“It is important that the vaccine is distributed in every country in the world, not just some,” said Dr. Lo.
He said that even with the acceleration of the vaccine, there were certain steps that should not be eliminated, adding that the approval bodies of the respective countries will have to test and approve it, in addition to producing enough doses.
To be truly effective, the Covid-19 vaccine must have a 50 percent success rate, either preventing infection or reducing the severity of the disease. It should also have a coverage of 60 or 70 percent among the population.
The WHO has said that the first groups to be vaccinated should be healthcare workers and high-risk groups such as the elderly and people with health problems. Others will have to wait.
Yet all this cautionary talk and delays in distribution has not dampened the Malaysian public’s appetite for a Covid-19 vaccine.
In an IPSOS survey for the World Economic Forum, 85 percent of Malaysians surveyed said they would take a Covid-19 vaccine if one was available. About half think a vaccine will be available by the end of the year.
Of the 15 percent who refused to get vaccinated, nearly half cited fear of side effects as a reason.
LESSONS FROM DENGVAXIA
Public health experts say the 15 percent fears may be valid. With the production and approval process speeding up, there are concerns that no amount of safety testing will be enough and any adverse effects would only embolden the small but noisy movement against vaccination in Malaysia.
“We have to try to be cautious and at the same time, we don’t give these anti-vaccines a bullet,” said Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association President Datuk Dr. Zainal Ariffin Omar.
He said no one wanted a repeat of the Dengvaxia incident, where it was discovered that the dengue vaccine in the Philippines in 2017 possibly caused the deaths of hundreds of school children.
Its manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, discovered that the vaccine could exacerbate the effects of a dengue infection in people who had never had the disease, but only after the Philippine government had inoculated millions of school children.
Dengvaxia has been blamed for losing confidence in vaccines in the Philippines, which later contributed to a measles outbreak last year.
The vaccine, which had been in the works for more than 20 years before being approved for use, is now recommended only for people who have had dengue before.
However, the former president of the Malaysian Medical Association, Dr. N Ganabaskaran, believes the trend would go the other way, saying that Covid-19 has increased support for vaccines.
“The normal people we are talking to know that the vaccine is very important,” he said.
OLD IS NEW AGAIN
So what should people do when a vaccine is available but cannot or will not receive it?
Rely on old proven methods to prevent disease, such as physical distancing, hand washing and restriction of movement, say public health experts.
Dr. Zainal said that the vaccine should not be considered a panacea, but rather a complementary way to fight the disease.
“Keep doing what we’ve been doing until we’re sure about the vaccine,” he said.
Dr. Lo agreed.
“We’ve seen what works,” he said, adding that self-discipline also works against other diseases.
“Always is good. It prevents many things. Transmission not only of Covid-19, but also of influenza and other infections that are transmitted through respiratory droplets, “he added. -Called
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