Sinovac vaccine efficacy among elderly people at 51%, says FDA

The efficacy rate of Chinese Sinovac vaccine on elderly people is at least 51%, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday, adding however, it should not be given to senior citizens with acute illness and uncontrolled hypertension.

FDA Chief Eric Domingo made the announcement a day after the regulatory agency allowed the use of Sinovac on senior citizens or those aged 60 years old and above, amending its initial recommendation of using it only on clinically healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 years old.

“Based on what we saw on Phase 1 and Phase 2 and some Phase 3 (human trial) clinical trials in other countries, the efficacy rate [of Sinovac on seniors] is at 51% to 52%," Domingo said.

We [also] have 700 health workers aged 60 and above who got Sinovac because they signed a waiver, and the adverse events we saw were the usual,” he added. 

“We can say the benefits outweigh the risk. That is why the DOH requested us to revise our recommendation, and also because we do not have other available vaccine brands alongside the high transmission rate,” Domingo noted.

However, he said that the use of Sinovac on elderly still has limitations. “This is not for those who have acute illness, uncontrolled hypertension, or hypertensive emergency.” 

Based on FDA evaluation, Sinovac’s efficacy rate on clinically healthy individuals ranges from 65% to 91%.

Sinovac’s efficacy rate on health workers, however, is only at 50.4%, but he said 50% is a good enough threshold.

“The acceptable level for the World Health Organization (WHO) is 50%,” he pointed out. 

So far, the Philippines has 2,525,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccine supply. Of this number, two million is Sinovac, and the rest AstraZeneca.

Now, the Philippines has 158,701 active COVID-19 cases.  —LBG, GMA News