The chairperson of the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) explained Thursday, Nov. 25, why she preferred the Sinovac vaccine as her booster shot and availed the homologous booster vaccination.
“I chose Sinovac. I received Sinovac first and two dose and third dose, why? because I cannot take naman , may contraindications dun ako sa (I have contraindications to) newer platforms. That is my perspective naman, yun ang aking naging decision (that was my decision),” Dr Nina Gloriani said during the Los Baños Science Community Foundation, Inc. (LBSCFI) SyenSaya Technoforum 2021 on COVID-19 Vaccines and Herd Immunity on Thursday.
The VEP official said she cannot receive vector-based vaccines such as AstraZeneca, explaining that she has an allergy.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo had disclosed that Sinovac vaccine, or CoronaVac could be used as “homologous” vaccines.
Homologous booster vaccination means the administration of an additional dose from the same type of vaccine as the one used in the primary inoculation.
Gloriani said while data showed that heterologous boosters have “higher boosting effect”, Sinovac vaccine as a third dose was found to induce a good immune response.
“Kami naman nag-evaluate ng Sinovac, yung third dose ng Sinovac ay nakita ko maganda ang third dose nya. I keep on explaining that in more scientific fora kasi very, very technical kasi ineexplain yung pag increase ng breadth ng antibody response, yung affinity (We evaluated Sinovac, the third dose of Sinovac, I found that its third dose is good. I keep on explaining that in more scientific fora because it is very, very technical because it is explained there the increase in breadth of antibody response, affinity),” she said.
“I am happy with the data we have for Sinovac that is why I chose Sinovac.”
Clinical studies on Sinovac booster shots in China yielded positive results, with data showing that CoronaVac boosters induced strong immune response in adult and elderly populations.
Gloriani said they come up with “very flexible” recommendations as far as the country’s booster vaccination is concerned.
“You can take any, our recommendations are very, very flexible,” she said.