‘Transparency can counter hesitancy’

Should Malaysia press ahead with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine following a review, the authorities should explain the move thoroughly to both the scientific community, as well as the general public.

The transparency, experts said, would help counter vaccine hesitancy, as well as prevent the public from seeking other, less reliable sources of information.

Virologist Dr Sazaly Abu Bakar said to boost public confidence even further, the government could also detail its backup plans in the event it did not opt to use the AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP).

Dr Sazaly, who is the director of Universiti Malaya’s Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre, said the move to review the vaccine following the latest reports on its alleged side effects was laudable.

He said the review should be conducted by the authorities, such as the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency and the Drug Control Authority.

Academics and industry experts, he said, should also be privy to the data, and the parties reviewing the clinical data should be given enough time to carry out their analyses.

This, he said, was of particular interest as the cause of the unusual blood clotting experienced by a small number of those vaccinated had yet to be established.

“We do not know what caused it right now. Only the European Medicines Agency and the United Kingdom are looking through the data as they are the only ones who have inoculated their population with the vaccine.

“An investigation has to be done to establish what triggered this. This is also vital to build vaccine confidence,” he said.

Dr Sazaly said Malaysia had other options as it was receiving vaccines from various manufacturers and was in negotiations with India over the procurement of the Novavax vaccine.

He said that in the meantime, the authorities could intensify clinical trials of other vaccines to assess their efficacy.

Public health specialist Dr Safiya Amaran also lauded the authorities’ cautious approach.

She said a prevalent theme in most reviews of the AstraZeneca vaccine was that it was not suitable for young adults.

Sharing data from the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, she said it stated that based on the Covid-19 incidence in the United Kingdom, serious harm due to vaccine was at a ratio of 1.1 per 100, 000 individuals for those aged between 20 and 29.

“However, it prevents only 0.8 per 100,000 individuals aged between 30 and 39 from being warded in Intensive Care Units (both based on incidence of two per 10,000).

“But this differs greatly in other age groups where the incidence of cases is higher.

“In the UK and other European countries, the incidence is much higher than ours.

“So yes, their incidence of serious harm from vaccines versus their cases is definitely much lower than their ICU stats.”

“We, however, have a much lower number of cases and cases in ICU. So we should not risk it.”

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations president Datuk Dr Marimuthu Nadason said the review was a step in the right direction as the news on the vaccines’ side effects was now trending worldwide.

He said the communication campaigns on vaccines must be on point to encourage people to get their vaccination as soon as possible.