FDA defends EUA for Sinovac vaccine amid doubts, questions

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday defended the emergency use authorization it granted to Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine with a recommendation not to use it on health workers.

Responding to a question during an Unang Balita regarding the possible negative impact of the recommendation on the confidence of the public with Chinese vaccines, FDA director general Eric Domingo said: "Hindi naman po. Kaya nga po ang ginagawa ng FDA chini-check po talaga natin kung kanino pupuwede ang bakuna."

"For example kahit po 'yung matataas ang nakita natin na efficacy rate like Pfizer, alam natin na hindi po siya puwede sa mga may allergies. Katulad po nitong Sinovac, puwede siya sa mga may allergies,” he added.

When granting an EUA, Domingo said they also recommend the types of people who should receive the vaccines and who should not.

On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano said FDA’s move not to recommend the Sinovac vaccine to medical frontliners casts doubts on its efficacy.

On Monday, Domingo announced that the FDA granted EUA to Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine.

“The use of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine on health care workers is not recommended as it has an efficacy rate of 50.4% in this group,” he had said.

Domingo cited that human trials of the Sinovac vaccine in Brazil involving health workers as participants showed that it is not the best vaccine choice for them as they have high exposure to COVID-19 cases. —KBK, GMA News