Sinovac still effective vs Delta variant --- Roque
Malacañang assured the public that the Chinese-made Sinovac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine was still effective against the more contagious and deadlier Delta variant of the disease just like other brands in the country's inventory.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement following reports that 10 of the 26 doctors in Indonesia who died of COVID-19 were fully vaccinated with the CoronaVac, Sinovac's coronavirus vaccine.
In his press briefing on Monday, Roque reiterated the opinion of health experts that all vaccines being administered in the country, including Sinovac, are effective against all COVID-19 variants.
"Wala pong pagbabago ang opinion ng mga dalubhasa, ng mga doctor, na lahat po ng bakuna equally effective laban po sa lahat ng mga variants (The opinions of experts and doctors are the same-- that all vaccines are equally effective against the variants)," he said.
"Ako naman po, abogado din ako, wala akong alam diyan (For me, I am a lawyer and know nothing about this) so I will have to take the views of the doctors and the scientists in lieu of my personal opinion," he added.
Despite this, Roque doubted that the recent development in Indonesia will cause the public to develop hesitancy on the Chinese vaccine.
"Hindi po kasi unang-una, ang Sinovac po aprubado hindi lang ng Philippine FDA (Food and Drug Administration), aprubado rin 'yan ng WHO (World Health Organization) (It won't cause hesitancy because first of all, Sinovac is approved not just by the local FDA but also the WHO)," he said.
"Pangalawa, sa dami ng Tsinong na 'yan ang ginamit yan, eh hindi naman po natin nakikitang nangyayari ito (Another reason is many Chinese people used that vaccine but we haven't seen the same situation happen before)," he added.
Roque appealed to the public to wait for experts to further study the incident.
"Hindi pa po natin nalalaman kung bakit namatay 'yang 10 doctor na 'yan, pero hayaan muna nating pag-aralan ng mga dalubhasa 'yan (We still don't know why those 10 doctors died but let's allow experts to study it first)," he said.
The Philippines rolled out its vaccination program on March 1 this year with the Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government. So far, the country has 12 million doses of the Chinese vaccines, both procured and donated shots.
The Delta variant of COVID-19 first discovered in India is reported to have paved the way for the deadly second wave of infections in the said country early this year. Last week, President Duterte recognized the threat of the said variant and admitted that he needed all the advice he could get.
“We need your (experts’) advice. It could spell the agony or the happiness of the Filipino people,” he said Monday evening.
"This is something which I cannot decide alone because I am not a medical person and I would need and welcome every advice that I could get from everybody who has a good grasp of the problem,” he added.
The Delta variant was one of the reasons why President Duterte agreed to keep face shields mandatory despite saying last week that it should be required only in hospitals.
Health experts said the Delta variant was 40 percent more infectious outdoors and 60 percent more infectious indoors.