Two senators on Friday cautioned the government against buying vaccines with 50 percent less efficacy saying the national task force against the COVID-19 pandemic should put a premium on safety, efficacy and pricing in determining the distribution and implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program.
“All these factors must be harmonized to make sure we deliver to our people the vaccine that is cost effective but is efficient and deliverable,” Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said in a statement.
“When we say efficient, that means a high efficacy rate. Pfizer, for example, has a high efficacy rate of 95 percent. However, the cold storage requirements is very difficult to comply with as we have very little facilities that can store at -70 degrees Celsius,” Zubiri pointed out.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also said that while Congress had emphasized the urgency of procuring COVID-19 vaccines, “safety and efficacy should be first and foremost.”
“We understand that the government may be trying to balance cost, efficacy, availability, and logistics complexity in determining which vaccines to bring in.
But safety and efficacy should be first and foremost. We should not sacrifice safety and efficacy. Otherwise, we run the risk of people refusing a COVID-19 vaccine out of fear,” Drilon said in a separate statement.
Drilon pointed out that while 50 percent efficacy is the minimum requirement of the World Health Organization (WHO) for vaccines, China’s Sinovac’s reported 50% efficacy clearly pales in comparison with Pfizer and Moderna, and even Astra Zeneca, which have efficacy rates ranging from 75 percent to 95 percent.
“I do not see how a 50 percent efficacy can build public trust and confidence in vaccines. Sinovac should be more transparent with their data.
Buhay at kinabukasan ng mga Pilipino ang pinag-uusapan natin dito, hindi natin tatanggapin ang salitang ‘pwede na’ pagdating sa usapin ng bakuna (the lives and the future of Filipinos are at stake here, we cannot just accept
vaccines they believe that ‘that will do’),” Drilon explained.
Drilon said vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez must consider this carefully and wait for clearer guidelines from the scientific community and other authorizing agencies to determine whether Sinovac “is worth offering to our people.”
“It is most important that we get our vaccination program started in 2021 with the best possible combination of vaccines we can procure. There is a global shortage of vaccines and we should focus on vaccinating our priority segments,” he said.
“Herd immunity will require a multi-year vaccination program and over time, we can look to inoculate 60 percent or 90 percent of our total population. But our near term priority should be to vaccinate our frontliners and highest risk population, which is the first 20 percent of our people,” the lawmaker reiterated.
Zubiri, for his part, believes the government can afford to acquire COVID-19 vaccines that have high efficacy rate, like Astra Zeneca, which has at least 75 percent efficiency and with only has a storage requirement of -2 to -8 Celsius.
“We have many refrigeration facilities for that. That’s why the plan to get vaccines with only a 50 percent efficacy rate is totally unacceptable and a total waste of our funds and resources,” Zubiri also insisted.
“That means there’s a 50/50 chance of you getting COVID even after being vaccinated is a joke! Again it means one out of two Filipinos could still be infected which is dangerous especially to senior citizens, frontliners and those with co-morbidities. Totally unacceptable period!!
“Buti pa yung mga Russian vaccines that have a 91 percent efficacy rate. We should be looking at those vaccines instead,” the majority leader added.
Zubiri said the country’s task force leaders should look at the effectiveness of the vaccines rather than for political or geo-political reasons.
“Safety of our people should come first not the feelings of our Neighboring Friends,” he said.
He said the Senate will closely monitor the COVID-19 vaccine deals made by government through its oversight function and has already constituted the Committee of the Whole to hear out the government’s vaccination roll out plans starting the 1st week of January.
“Hindi kami papayag na ibibigay sa ating mga kababayans yung mga bakunang palpak at walang silbi sa pag bigay proteksyon sa COVID-19 (We will not agree to have our fellowmen inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines that are poorly or badly done),” Zubiri assured.