Robredo: Use of COVID-19 vaccines with low efficacy may hamper vaccination efforts

Fewer Filipinos may be inclined to be inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine if the government chooses to roll out one that has a low efficacy rate, Vice President Leni Robredo warned Sunday.

In her weekly radio show, Robredo urged the government to justify its purchase of any of the available COVID-19 vaccines in order to encourage the public to get vaccinated.

“Ang pinaka-kampanya nga natin iyong confidence, ‘di ba, iyong tiwala sa bakuna. Kapag alam ng tao na ang baba ng efficiency o effectivity ng vaccine na ito, ‘di ba, mababa din iyong tiwala,” she said.

“Pero kapag alam niya na itong klaseng vaccine na ito, ganito iyong level ng effectivity, ito iyong mga nakuha noong mga kung sino, saang mga bansa, mas tataas iyong tiwala niya sa bakuna, mas maraming magpapabakuna,” she added.

Robredo made the remark amid concerns on the efficacy rate of China’s Sinovac vaccine, which ranged from 50 to 90 percent, according to Brazil and Turkey. 

While Sinovac is yet to release final and complete data on the efficacy of its vaccine, it is still more expensive than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine with 95 percent efficacy and the AstraZeneca vaccine, with 70 percent efficacy on average. 

Malacañang earlier said the Sinovac vaccine was still the country’s top pick despite allegations that the Chinese firm engaged in bribery to hasten the approval of its vaccines. 

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque later clarified that the Philippines would procure vaccines wherever it is available at the soonest possible time. 

The Department of Science and Technology also said an efficacy rate of over 50 percent was acceptable under the standards of the World Health Organization. 

“Kailangang ma-explain sa tao alin bang vaccine iyong ating binili, bakit ba natin ito pinili… Kasi kung hindi mae-explain, lalo lang nadadagdagan iyong pangamba,” Robredo said.

“Marahil totoo na iyong 50 percent acceptable na iyon, pero mahirap kasing ipaliwanag na mayroong iba in the market na mas mura, mas mataas nang di hamak iyong level of [efficacy, tapos] iyong pipiliin natin na mas mahal, mas mababa.”

The Philippines has so far secured 2.6 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine through the help of the private sector.

The country has logged 477,807 infections as of Sunday afternoon. — BM, GMA News