Doctors group expresses relief over arrival of AstraZeneca vaccines aside from Sinovac

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) expressed relief on Sunday over the scheduled arrival of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca on Monday, which healthcare workers can use aside from the vaccines from Sinovac.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, PCP President Dr. Mario Panaligan said they have fears about the Sinovac vaccine, which are expected to arrive on Sunday afternoon, because the details on its Phase 3 trials have not been published yet.

“Una, masaya na magkakaroon na ng bakuna. Pero ang pangalawa, na mas importante din naman, ay ‘yung pangamba dahil nauna 'yung Sinovac. Mabuti na lang sumunod na ‘yung AstraZeneca,” he said.

“Lumabas na nga na darating na 'yung sa AstraZeneca kasi 'yun ‘yung may published data e. Kasi 'yun naman 'yung hinahanap natin,” he added.

Healthcare workers will be the first recipients of COVID-19 vaccines according to the priority list of the government.

On Saturday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced the Philippines would receive 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine on Monday.

The AstraZeneca delivery is part of the first round of allocated doses from the COVAX facility.

On Thursday, Roque announced that the donated 600,000 doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines are expected to arrive on Sunday afternoon.

Initially, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not recommend the use of Sinovac vaccines on healthcare workers when it granted the vaccine an emergency use authorization.

FDA Director General Dr. Eric Domingo said Sinovac’s efficacy ranged from 65.3% to 91.2% but only reached 50.4% among health workers with COVID-19 exposure.

On Friday, however, Department of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases has accepted the recommendation of immunization experts to approve the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for health workers.

“Bago tayo magtiwala sa bakuna, magandang makita natin ang actual information o data na sinasabing safe siya,” Panaligan said.

“Alam naman natin na kapag sinabing Chinese-made na vaccine, siyempre nandoon na agad 'yung agam-agam tapos wala pa 'yung publication kaya maraming natatakot,” he added. —KG, GMA News