DOH: Insufficient data to say CoronaVac is ‘ineffective’ to health workers

The Department of Health (DOH) is now warning the public to be aware of articles coming out regarding healthcare workers who are still infected with COVID-19 even after being vaccinated using Chinese vaccine CoronaVac.

Although 350 medical workers in Indonesia still tested positive for COVID-19 even after being injected with CoronaVac, it may be small if thousands of health workers in that country, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

The data reported are still lacking, and it is not yet certain whether they have completed the two doses needed to obtain full protection.

“Unang-una, hindi po sinaad diyan kung meron ho silang control group doon sa tinatawag na pag-aaral na naisagawa,” said Vergeire.

“One expert was saying, let’s say may 5,000 silang healthcare workers diyan sa mga ospital nila [sa Indonesia], but the fact of the matter would be that it was reported 300 ‘yung nagkasakit. So 300 out of the 5,000 would be around 2-3%, and that leaves you with still 97% effectiveness of this vaccine.”

DOH: Insufficient data to say CoronaVac is ‘ineffective’ to health workers

The World Health Organization previously said that CoronaVac is 51% effective in preventing “symptomatic disease” while preventing 100% severe COVID-19 and hospitalization in the affected population.

Even if a person is completely vaccinated against COVID-19, it is still possible for a person to get the disease. It is also said that “full protection” can only be given to a person after two weeks (14 days) after being given the second dose of the vaccine.

According to Vergeire, the DOH does not deny a concept of “breakthrough infections” or COVID-19 infection even if an individual is fully vaccinated. However, it is still said to be effective in general.

“‘Yung real-world studies po, nagpalabas na lahat ng bakuna, pati po ‘yung mga ginagamit po natin sa ating bansa, ay pantay-pantay sa effectiveness. Ibig sabihin, it can prevent severe infections and hospitalization,” the DOH official said.

“Hindi pa lang po nakakapaglabas ang ibang mga manufacturers katulad ng Sinovac when it comes to specific variants, kung ano ang epekto nito sa kanila.”