While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledged that Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine is proven safe for administering to senior citizens, its effectivity against the virus is still in question due to the insufficient data.
“Unang una nakita na nga natin may more than 700 na senior citizen health care workers dito sa Pilipinas na nagpabakuna. At ung tinignan natin yung adverse effects sa kanila are within reasonable levels, acceptable levels,” FDA Director General Eric Domingo said in a briefing.
Domingo reiterated that the safety of the vaccine is not in question anymore, but noting that its efficacy cannot be ensured as the data is limited.
The FDA official said the only data that they have on Sinovac’s efficacy for senior citizens is the Brazil trial, which only involved a few hundred elderly people out of thousands of participants, and Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials.
However, Domingo said that it is better than no vaccine at all.
“But knowing also na wala naman tayong vaccine right now na maaaring gamitin sa mga senior citizens dahil wala pa tayong maexpect na supply for April other than the Sinovac, we found that it is more beneficial to vaccinate them now than to wait for ibang vaccine,” he said.
