Sinovac vaccine's 50% efficacy meets minimum WHO standard --- DOST

The more than 50 percent efficacy rate of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech is "acceptable" based on the minimum requirement set by the World Health Organization (WHO), an official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said. 

“The 50 percent 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 DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research Development Executive Director Jaime Montoya on Thursday. 

“We have to also bear in mind that the vaccine efficacy may actually change—it may go up or it may go down—as more and more people are using it when (the vaccines)  are actually rolled out,” he added. 

Reuters recently reported that Brazilian researchers said "Sinovac Biotech's vaccine against COVID-19 is over 50 percent effective in late-stage trials."

Montoya said that further review is needed to have a better understanding on the performance of the said COVID-19 vaccine.   

"We have to look at the data. We are talking here of the overall vaccine efficacy which, if it is true, is at 50 percent," he said. 

Montoya said that it is better to choose a vaccine that has a higher efficacy rate. 

"If we are given a choice and we have to prioritize, of course definitely, the vaccine efficacy that is higher would be the preferred vaccine," he said.