Sinovac vaccine's 50% efficacy rate still 'very relevant' amid supply lack —expert

The 50% efficacy rate of Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine is a significant protection already amid the lack of vaccine supply and the surge of COVID-19 cases in the country, a member of the Philippine Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) said Tuesday.

Dr. Rontgene Solante made the response following the statement of Dr. Gao Fu, director of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about COVID-19 vaccines having low protection rates.

So far, 3 million of the 3,025,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the country are from Sinovac, a Chinese pharmaceutical firm.

"Sinovac is approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), approved by the VEP. That 50% efficacy rate is still very relevant, especially na wala tayong bakuna o kaunti pa lang ang ating bakuna and we have this surge,” Solante said during the Laging Handa briefing.

(A 50% efficacy rate is still very relevant, especilly that we have low supply of COVID-19 vaccines as we have a surge in cases.)

"That efficacy [rate] is already significant and hopefully, lahat tayo, mabakunahan. ‘Yung issue ng efficacy, hindi natin tatalakayin ‘yan sa ganitong punto dahil kaunti nga ang bakuna natin,” he added.

(A 50% efficacy rate is already significant and hopefully, we all can get vaccinated. We should not discuss efficacy at this point because we really have low vaccine supply.)

Based on Philippine FDA evaluation of Sinovac, its vaccine has the following efficacy rates:

• 65% to 91% among healthy individuals aged 18 to 59
• 50.4% for health workers
• 51% to 52% on senior citizens or those aged 60 and above

Other vaccine brands granted emergency use authorization by the Philippine FDA — Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V — posted efficacy rates of 70% to 95%.

Solante, however, stressed that the 50% efficacy rate is the threshold set by the World Health Organization, and that the benefits of getting a Sinovac jab is undeniable.

"Sa atin, we have Sinovac. Kung ito man ang bakuna na so far ay available, then we have to focus na mas marami tayong mabakunahan para makikita natin yung total benefit ng bakuna rather than just looking at 50% or 60% efficacy rate," he said.

(Since what we have is Sinovac, we should focus on giving it to as many people as possible so we can see the total benefits of the vaccine.)

"Sinovac’s data also showed that 83% to 100% effective in prevention of severe COVID. Iyon iyong mas medyo mabigat na benepsiyo na makukuha natin sa bakuna [That's a greater benefit]," he added. —KBK, GMA News