[ad_1]
MANILA, Philippines – The 50% efficacy of China’s Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine is “acceptable” as it falls within the World Health Organization (WHO) minimum requirement, the Department of Science and Technology said on Thursday. Technology (DOST).
Brazilian researchers reportedly said that CoronaVac, Sinovac’s vaccine, is more than 50% effective based on trial data.
“The 50% efficacy is acceptable because that is the minimum requirement set by the World Health Organization for a vaccine to be used by a country,” said Jaime Montoya, executive director of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development at DOST. .
“We also have to keep in mind that the efficacy of a vaccine can actually change, it can increase or decrease as more and more people use it when they are implemented,” he added.
Montoya noted that the 50% rate is the “overall efficacy” of the vaccine and could be higher “if we really divide them into groups.”
“Maybe it’s more effective in a particular group of people, maybe in healthcare workers, maybe in the elderly, maybe with those with coexisting morbidity, so we have to look at them. So we also have to see where they are going to be most useful, in which group, before we can make a decision, “he said.
The government is confident that the Sinovac vaccine will be the first to arrive in the Philippines and officials say it could arrive in the first quarter of 2021.
The government seeks to secure up to 25 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine.
So far, the country has formally secured 2.6 million doses of vaccine from British drugmaker AstraZeneca, expected to arrive in the second quarter of 2021. [ac]
For more news on the new coronavirus, click here.
What you need to know about the coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
The Inquirer Foundation supports our leaders in healthcare and still accepts cash donations to be deposited into the Banco de Oro (BDO) checking account # 007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using this link .
Read next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
