No fatal side effect has been recorded from the use of coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech so far, according to a company official.
Ahead of the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines, Sinovac Hong Kong general manager Helen Yang assured the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, saying that only muscle pain has been reported as a common side effect after vaccination.
The CoronaVac vaccines have already been given emergency use approval n a dozen countries including the Philippines and Indonesia amid global efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic. An initial 600,000 doses of the vaccines donated by China are expected to be delivered to the country in the next few days.
"The common side effects and similar for the vaccine being used in the country for rollout, (during) the campaign as well as (during) the trial (is) that there are muscle pain(s) that is due to the aluminum hydroxide which is adjuvant in the vaccine. So people just feel muscle pain after getting vaccination but it can go over after a day," Yang said in a virtual Palace press briefing.
Asked about any fatality from the Sinovac vaccine use, Yang said: "No, there hasn’t been any fatal impact relating to use of the vaccine."
The Sinovac official assured the public that coronavirus vaccines are safe and effective even for health workers and other members of the population based on clinical trials.
Yang said vaccine trials on health workers dealing with COVID-19 patients in Brazil showed different efficacy rates. She said the vaccine has 100 percent efficacy in preventing fatal cases and around 80 percent in preventing mild cases but require medical assistance.
"If we include all the mild symptoms even without requiring medical assistance, the efficacy rate is about 50 percent which is the standard from WHO. We conclude that (our) vaccine is effective even in this very challenging environment," she said.
In the clinical trials held in Turkey, Yang said the Sinovac vaccine has shown an efficacy of 91.25 percent.
"No matter from health workers or from the ordinary population, the inactivated vaccine has been proven safe not only in the trials. We have provided the vaccine in China and outside China. There (have) already been 10 million or even 20 million people who already used the vaccine..We are expecting people working in health care facilities can be protected because we need them in society to treat the patients)," she said.
Asked how long the vaccine protection could last, Yang said the company has yet to get the direct information on the result of the use of the vaccines in China. "And if they find anything, they will come to us. If they don’t come to us, that means the vaccine is good," she said.
On Monday, Feb. 22, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the emergency use authorization (EUA) for vaccines made by Sinovac following a thorough review. The Chinese-made vaccines however have not been recommended to the country's health care workers due to varied efficacy rates.
FDA chief Rolando Enrique Domingo said clinical trials showed the Sinovac vaccine has an efficacy of 65.3 percent to 91.2 percent when used on healthy individuals age 18 to 59. A 65.3 efficacy rate has been reported in Indonesia while the 91.2 efficacy rate was seen in Turkey. The Sinovac vaccine however recorded a lower efficacy rate of 50.4 percent when used on healthcare workers.
The latest FDA decision paves the way for the delivery of the coronavirus vaccines to the country. The Palace remained hopeful the supplies will arrive before the end of the month.
In the televised press briefing, Yang said they are coordinating with Manila officials on the custom procedures so they can fix the date of the flight.
"We will try our best to deliver the products this week or next week. It will be very soon," she said.