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FDA: Only 20,000 health workers may not get Sinovac vaccine jabs
FDA: Only 20,000 health workers may not get Sinovac vaccine jabs
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has clarified that health workers nationwide may still opt to be injected with the vaccine developed by Sinovac, saying the exception only applies to about 20,000 who are treating COVID-19 patients.
During the Senate's plenary debates on the proposed "COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act", Senator Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara said the FDA was not entirely advising against the use of Sinovac's CoronaVac for health workers.
The FDA earlier said that the China-made vaccine yielded only 50.4 percent efficacy rate when it was tested on health worker who are exposed to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"Therefore, it is not recommended for use for this group," said FDA Director-General Eric Domingo in announcing the grant of an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Sinovac.
But Angara said Domingo clarified to him that the exception only applies to some 20,000 health workers who are directly treating COVID-19 patients.
"I'd like to say this for the benefit of our members, as well as for the benefit of the media...so that we may not sort of put up a frenzy of sorts, because our people are kind of -- I wouldn't say on a knife's edge -- but are skeptical of getting vaccinated," he said, quoting Domingo, who was physically present in the Senate plenary to help in the interpellations on the vaccine procurement bill.
"Applicable daw ho sa (This is applicable only to) health workers treating COVID-19 patients, so this estimate is just around 20,000 around the country. For the other frontliners, other health care workers, those who are not treating COVID-19 cases, okay naman daw ho 'yong Sinovac vaccine (Sinovac's vaccine is okay for use)," he added.
Angara said that the regulatory agency was merely relaying the findings of the clinical trials conducted on the vaccine.
"I think the cook or the chef is just telling us that itong putahe na ito ay maanghang, 'yong isang putahe naman (this dish is spicy, and the other dish)Â may contain nuts, so it is not recommended to those who may have an adverse reaction to nuts. He is not telling us not to take it, he is just telling us what science is telling him, your honor," Angara told his colleagues.
"And the science is telling him that for certain groups, it may not be suited, whereas it may be better suited for other groups," he pointed out.
Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson compared the FDA's approval of Sinovac to "a chef who refuses to eat the food that he just cooked because it is not good but which he serves to the customers".
Other senators said such pronouncements do not help in building the people's confidence in the government's vaccination program.
The FDA issued the clarification after Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who had disclosed his preference for Sinovac, told the authorities to be cautious in issuing such recommendation.
"We have to be more careful about our pronouncement considering that, again, 47 percent of our people don't want to be vaccinated," Senator Joel Villanueva agreed, citing a survey.
Still, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Sen. Risa Hontiveros thanked Domingo for his reminder.
"I want to thank him for his candor, for being honest. Tell it like it is, if you feel that this one is better one for the health workers, then, say so," Zubiri said, stressing that health workers treating COVID-19 patients need better protection from the viral disease.