A representative of Sinovac, the Chinese company that developed one of the vaccines against COVID-19, insisted that their vaccine was effective, amid criticisms about it.
Helen Yang, general manager of Sinovac, said the reported 50.4 percent efficacy of their vaccine came from a clinical trial conducted in Brazil in which the participants were front liners.
But it turns out that its efficacy rate is higher in the general population.
“Therefore we’re very happy to see that our vaccine can prevent 100 percent of severe cases and hospitalized cases and 78 percent is the prevention to those with mild cases, but they need medical assistance,” she said.
Yang added that the technology used in developing their vaccine has been tested. It uses an inactivated vaccine similar to the flu and polio vaccines.
“Sinovac was developing an inactivated vaccine and this type of roadmap has been largely used in history in so many different products… The technology is reliable,” she added.
According to Yang, more than 1 million doses of Sinovac have been used in China, it will be used in Indonesia and Turkey.
Sinovac insists its vaccine is effective, affordable
They also said that their clinical trial in other countries will continue.
For the Philippines, Yang ensured that the price of the Sinovac vaccine expected to arrive in the country next month was affordable.
It is also said to be easier to transport and distribute because it can be at a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.
“I think for the Philippines, this is a very friendly country to China and I believe there’s a mutual understanding between our leaders, so we actually provide a favorable pricing to our Philippine friends,” said Yang.
She refused to say how much the price was.
Sinovac’s application for emergency use authorization is still pending with the Food and Drug Administration.
Earlier, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. also defended the government-sponsored Sinovac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine deal.
Galvez further stressed that the Chinese drugmaker was chosen because apart from being used by other rich countries, it is also said to have a low price compared to other vaccines.
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