Vaccine Expert Panel mulled the use of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine on elderly amidst AstraZeneca shortage.
Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) on Tuesday mulled the use of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine on the elderly amidst a shortage of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
In a report on GMA News Online, the Vaccine Expert Panel had wrapped up its discussions on the use of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines on the elderly amidst a shortage of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses.
According to Infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante, the Vaccine Expert Panel was forwarding its recommendation to the Department of Health (DOH).
During a DOH briefing, Solante explained that while there’s an “absence of data” on the efficacy of Sinovac’s CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine on individuals older than 60 years old, the shortage of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses had prompted experts to reevaluate and to determine whether to recommend the use of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for the said age bracket.
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was being used on senior citizens since Sinovac’s CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine was only recommended for clinically healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 years old.
According to Solante, countries like China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Turkey had been using Sinovac’s CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine on people older than 60 years old based on the COVID-19 vaccine’s Phase 1 and 2 clinical trial data.
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“Now we are looking at the data again since they don’t have data on 60 years old and above. At this point in time, we need the vaccine for those 60 years old and above. The question now is, can we change the recommendation to say that we can give the vaccine to [those] 60 years old and above… We in the VEP already made our recommendation, we just finished the recommendation the other day,” Solante said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Solante also said that the Vaccine Expert Panel would wait for the Department of Health to make the announcement on the said matter.
Earlier, the Department of Health said that it was fast-tracking Sinovac’s submission of clinical trial data to possibly allow the use of CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine on the elderly.
Previously, the Food and Drug Administration explained that data must be presented before regulators revised CoronaVac’s emergency use authorization (EUA).
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