A Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) official insisted Friday, March 5 that the protection the Sinovac vaccine provides against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is “immeasurable’’, even at a supposed 50 percent efficacy rate.
BJMP spokesperson and Chief Inspector Xavier Solda, who also heads the bureau’s Community Relations Service Office (CRSO) said he hopes his “open declaration’’ would encourage the public to get themselves vaccinated.
With the loosening of quarantine protocols, Solda stressed the urgency to follow minimum health standards since more people are out on the streets.
“It (Sinovac vaccine) is better than nothing. I cannot be choosy. Ako lang muna (in my family) magpabakuna, hindi mga anak ko. Pag meron nang safe na bakuna para sa mga bata tsaka lang siguro pwede silang ma-inject (For now I'll be the only one in my family who will be injected and not my children. If there will be a safe vaccine available for children then maybe that is the time they can be inoculated),’’ Solda said.
Health experts in Indonesia said the China-made Sinovac vaccine is 65 percent effective based on the trials of some 1,600 people.
In Brazil, researchers noted that it was 50.4 percent effective in preventing symptomatic infections with the country having the biggest trials so far with around 13,000 participants.
The same vaccine also appeared to be safe based on a late-stage clinical trial in Brazil, the preliminary results of which were shown in October last year.
Meanwhile, researchers in Turkey reported an efficacy rate of 83.5 percent for Sinovac based on final Phase 3 clinical trial results.
Solda called on those listed in the priority roster of the national vaccination program to grab the opportunity to get inoculated with any COVID-19 vaccine brand approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect them from serious illeness in case they catch the virus.
“Kahit ano na lang po sanang available na vaccine. Dapat po tayong maprotektahan agad para di na kumalat ang virus (Get inoculated with any available vaccine. Let us be protected to prevent the transmission of the virus),’’ Solda noted.
As the medical experts had explained, Solda reminded the public that all of the vaccines have side effects, even those touting a higher efficacy rate.