FOLLOWING THE Philippines’ emergency approval of China’s Covid-19 vaccine Sinovac, the Food and Drug Administration cautioned that the medicine is not recommended for use on health workers.
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| A health worker takes selfie when receiving a dose of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during mass vaccination program for health workers as a main priority group in Jakarta, Indonesia, Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Agung Kuncahya B.) |
President Rodrigo Duterte has been pushing for the use of the Chinese vaccine despite its low efficacy rate.
The FDA said Sinovac’s efficacy rate is at 65.3% to 91.2% on clinically healthy individuals aged 18-59 years old. However, its efficacy rate is only at 50.4% on health care workers and as such, it is not recommended for use in this group, according to Dr. Eric Domingo, who heads the FDA.
But health workers in Indonesia have been inoculated with Sinovac during a mass vaccination program in Jakarta just this month.
Dr. Tony Leachon, a health reform advocate and former adviser to the national Covid task force, said Domingo should clarify his statement since he approved the use of Sinovac on Filipinos. “We need more clarity on the statement of FDA Director Domingo. Kung hindi puede sa mga health workers and frontliners due to its low efficacy rating, why should Filipinos take the risks?” he asked.
Senator Panfilo Lacson similarly questioned the FDA’s issuance of an Emergency Use Authorization for Sinovac, but advising against its use for health frontliners. “It is like a chef who refuses to eat the food he just cooked because it is not good, but which he serves to the customers.”
“How can a vaccinator convince the one that he is about to inoculate if - he or she - is being discouraged by the government to use the Sinovac vaccine? This raises more questions and issues than what the National Task Force against Covid-19 is already busy grappling with,” he said.
Lacson also said the private sector and local governments should be treated as partners and not competitors in the national government’s vaccination program by being allowed to actively and even proactively procure and administer vaccines as long as they are in close coordination and under the supervision of the Department of Health and National Task Force against Covid-19.
“One common mistake that every administration commits is treating the private sector as competitors through over-regulation instead of partners especially during the time of crisis such as this pandemic that we are confronting now. Let’s face the reality that the private sector does not go through the same bureaucratic delays that their counterpart in the public sector suffers from,” he said.
During his interpellation of Senate Bill 2057, the proposed Covid-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, Lacson said the national government should treat the private sector as partners rather than competitors through over-regulation. He noted a provision in Section 5 of the bill, where private entities cannot get more favorable terms than the government in procuring vaccines.
“If we allow the private sector to go ahead and procure vaccines and administer vaccines, it would accelerate further the rollout and accomplishment of our vaccination program,” he said.
Lacson cited a Straits Times report that the Indonesian government allowed the private sector to help inoculate the population to reach herd immunity faster. “This is with safeguards of course, with close coordination with the national government particularly the NTF and DOH. The point is, we have the same target population. Why not be partners in our vaccination program? I don’t think we’ll lose much, we’ll gain more if we allow the private sector to help,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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